Large swathes of the British countryside are to be spared the blight of windfarms by the axing of taxpayer subsidies, Energy Secretary Amber Rudd has revealed. She said about 2,500 proposed turbines in 250 projects are now “unlikely to be built”.
The Renewables Obligation subsidy for new onshore wind farms is being scrapped a year early from April next year.Ms Rudd said this would save consumers cash by avoiding a surplus of state-funded windfarms and by helping newer green technologies compete. Ms Rudd, who has also announced plans to give local communities the final say over windfarms, said: “We are reaching the limits of what is affordable, and what the public is prepared to accept.”
But critics said taxpayers still face a soaring bill for subsidies to costly offshore windfarms .
Benny Peiser of the Global Warming Policy Forum, which argues that many anti-climate change measures are too costly, said: “This announcement is a move in the right direction but it is a bit schizophrenic.
“The Government is phasing out subsidies for onshore wind but they are still subsiding offshore turbines which are twice as expensive. “This will not reduce the overall cost for renewables because that was agreed by the coalition Government a year ago.“Under the Levy Control Framework subsidies for renewables will double from £4billion now to about £8billion in 2020. “So while many rural communities will celebrate the scrapping of onshore wind subsidies, offshore farms will continue because there are no voters to object.”
Tory Chris Heaton-Harris said many of his Daventry constituents had been so alienated by backers of windfarms who had “destroyed people’s faith in renewable energies as a whole”.
But Shadow Energy Secretary Caroline Flint accused Ms Rudd of causing “confusion and concern”.She said: “Despite the Prime Minister’s warm words on tackling climate change in this most important year of global negotiations, this Parliament has hardly begun but already the cheapest form of renewable energy is under attack and other renewable investors are worried that they are next.”
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UK Government To Scrap 250 Wind Farms As Subsidies Are Axed | The Global Warming Policy Forum (GWPF)
The Renewables Obligation subsidy for new onshore wind farms is being scrapped a year early from April next year.Ms Rudd said this would save consumers cash by avoiding a surplus of state-funded windfarms and by helping newer green technologies compete. Ms Rudd, who has also announced plans to give local communities the final say over windfarms, said: “We are reaching the limits of what is affordable, and what the public is prepared to accept.”
But critics said taxpayers still face a soaring bill for subsidies to costly offshore windfarms .
Benny Peiser of the Global Warming Policy Forum, which argues that many anti-climate change measures are too costly, said: “This announcement is a move in the right direction but it is a bit schizophrenic.
“The Government is phasing out subsidies for onshore wind but they are still subsiding offshore turbines which are twice as expensive. “This will not reduce the overall cost for renewables because that was agreed by the coalition Government a year ago.“Under the Levy Control Framework subsidies for renewables will double from £4billion now to about £8billion in 2020. “So while many rural communities will celebrate the scrapping of onshore wind subsidies, offshore farms will continue because there are no voters to object.”
But Shadow Energy Secretary Caroline Flint accused Ms Rudd of causing “confusion and concern”.She said: “Despite the Prime Minister’s warm words on tackling climate change in this most important year of global negotiations, this Parliament has hardly begun but already the cheapest form of renewable energy is under attack and other renewable investors are worried that they are next.”
Full story
UK Government To Scrap 250 Wind Farms As Subsidies Are Axed | The Global Warming Policy Forum (GWPF)
