Government Feed-in Tariffs Boosts Small Wind Market

(04/09/2009)

UK orders for Evance’s Iskra R9000 small wind turbine have increased by 300 percent since the Government announced its support for small wind with its new feed in tariffs, part of its Renewable Energy strategy.

The company has seen interest in purchasing small wind turbines for rural areas (particularly farms and small businesses) undergo an explosive increase and has increased production and the number of distributors it works with in response.

Turbine owners can earn around 10p per kWh produced (whether consumed by the owner or not) under the Renewable Obligation Certificate scheme until April 2010. After April 2010 a new programme of feed-in tariffs will transform small wind turbine economics by paying owners more for each unit of electricity generated. These payments will be in addition to the financial benefits of displacing grid electricity and selling excess energy back to the grid. In the UK, the proposed payment is 23p per unit for turbines between 1.5kW and 15kW, and all approved systems installed from now will qualify.

According to Evance, the new feed in tariffs mean that an Evance wind turbine will generate between £2000 and £3000 per year (more on windy sites). This, combined with grants available (to domestic, farming and public sector installations) reduces the payback time against the cost of a turbine to anything between three and six years.

This is welcome news at a time when large scale wind turbines have suffered a blow with the recent closure of the Vestas plant in the Isle of Wight. Evance small wind turbines are designed, manufactured and assembled in the UK.

Claus Jacobsen, Sales & Marketing Director of Evance, says: “The government has acted slowly in granting support to larger-scale manufacturing operations, despite its vision of the UK becoming a world leader in the manufacturing of renewable technologies. But the announcement of feed-in tariffs has driven demand for small wind turbines as it becomes a much more economically viable option. People are considering their long-term future and seeking to decrease their reliance on fossil fuels.

“If the government gives its support to manufacturing small wind turbines, then we will start to see economies of scale, and the price of manufacturing will go down, reducing the up-front cost of the turbine. As this happens, demand will increase even further.”

Related categories:  Environmental technologies for Residential and Green homes   Wind power