Farm-based anaerobic digestion was covered as part of the fast-track FITs review
The government has now confirmed that it will implement the changes as proposed.
See their response document here.
The proposed changes
The government intends changing the tariff levels by introducing two new tariff bands to replace the previous 11.5p tariff for all systems up to 500kW:
| System type | System size | Generation tariff |
|---|---|---|
| Anaerobic digestion | up to 250kW | 14.0 p/kWh |
| Anaerobic digestion | 250kW – 500kW | 13.0 p/kWh |
These new bands and tariffs would take effect from 1st August 2011 (so don’t commission new plant of this size before then!).
What the original statement said
Alongside the fast track review of large scale solar PV, we will also undertake a short study into the take-up of FITs for farm based Anaerobic Digestion plants. Only two such projects have been accredited so far and by this point at least six were expected.
We are looking again at the tariff rates inherited from the previous administration to see if they are enough to make farm based Anaerobic Digestion worthwhile.
It was clear to most that they should have concluded that answer is “No”
… it’s less than clear that the above proposals have done enough to correct this.