More changes to Biomass and Solar PV in Scotland

ScotlandUnited Kingdom

On 7th February 2013, Energy Minister Fergus Ewing announced the Scottish Government’s response to the Consultation in relation to the Renewables Obligation (RO) support levels for biomass and solar power. The Minister took this opportunity to emphasise that sustainable biomass provides huge opportunities for Scotland, including new jobs in the plants and the forest supply sector, reduced emissions and lower energy bills.

BIOMASS

The Scottish Government has confirmed there will be a restriction on the size and type of biomass fuelled stations (including those fuelled by wood) which can receive support under the RO, and have introduced an installed capacity ceiling of 15MW. This is 5MW more than originally proposed by last year’s Consultation. The decision to cap the levels of support was driven by the concerns about potential consequences of increased demand for wood to fuel biomass generation, including social, economic and environmental impacts in the areas and countries from which the fuel may be sourced.

Wood-fuelled biomass stations with an installed capacity greater than 15MW will be still able to claim governmental support under the RO, however only if they operate as combined heat and power (CHP) stations. Biomass stations which lose their combined heat and power status will remain eligible for reduced support under the RO for a period of five years, in order to give them time to regain CHP status. These measures highlight some differences between the Scottish and UK Government’s approach in this area. The UK Government’s consultation response in December stated that the cap on new-build dedicated biomass should be non-legislative, set at a much higher level of 400MW and exclude CHP plants with full or partial CHPQA accreditation.

However, the Scottish Government does propose to introduce the same changes in relation to standard co-firing as the UK Government consultation Response, which set out that support for standard co-firing of biomass and co-firing of regular bio liquids will be reduced to 0.3 ROCs/MWh in 2013/14 and 2014/15. Standard co-firing with CHP and co-firing of regular bio liquids with CHP will be reduced to 0.8 ROCs/MWh in 2013/14 and 2014/15 respectively. In addition the energy crop uplift for standard co-firing will be removed, with the exception of existing contracts for energy crops which will be supported until 31 March 2019 or the life of the contract, whichever is earlier.

The Scottish Government also propose to retain the requirement for gaseous fuel produced by means of gasification or pyrolysis to have a Gross Calorific Value of 2 megajoules per m³ or above in order to be eligible for support.

The industry appears to have welcomed the changes, with Stephanie Clark, Policy Officer for Scottish Renewables commenting that “By increasing the threshold limit of electricity-only biomass stations this will ensure that Scotland has additional capacity for biomass production. The response from Scottish Government today also increases certainty surrounding support for biomass as we look towards introducing more renewable heat in Scotland as part of combined heat and power plants”.

SOLAR PV

The Response also confirmed that solar PV support levels in Scotland will mirror those across the rest of UK. The solar PV ROC band has been amended to create two separate bands: one for building-mounted solar PV and one for ground-mounted solar PV. For the building-mounted solar PV band, the support level will be 1.7 ROCs per MWh in 2013/14. This support will decrease by 0.1 ROC per MWh every year to reach 1.4 ROCs per MWh in 2017. For the ground-mounted solar PV band, the level of support will decrease from 1.6 ROCs per MWh in 2013/2014, 1.4 in 2014/15, 1.3 in 2015/16 until 1.2 ROCs per MWh in 2016/17.

Subject to the approval of Parliament and the European Commission (regarding state aid), the amended Order, incorporating these changes, shall come into force from 1st April 2013.

Links to the Consultation Response documents for the Scottish and UK Government can be found below:

Summary of Supplementary Consultation Outcome (Parts B – D) and Scottish Government Response

Renewables Obligation Banding Review for the period 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2017: Government Response