Publication date: 4th December 2012

Information types: News

Policy areas: Environmental programmes FIT

The FIT scheme has undergone a number of significant changes since its launch on 1 April 2010. A number of these changes have come into effect as part of the FIT Comprehensive Review consultation exercises run by DECC, which took place between 31 October 2011 and 26 April 2012.

The FIT Comprehensive Review ran in 3 phases:

• Phase 1, which considered changes to small scale solar PV, came into effect on 1 April 2012;
• Phase 2A which considered solar PV tariffs and a PV tariff degression mechanism, came into effect on 1 August 2012; and
• Phase 2B, which considered tariff changes and degression for all other technologies as well as scheme administration issues, came into effect on 1 December 2012.

A number of supplier facing issues came into effect later, on 1 July 2013.

A summary of the key changes that have affected the scheme since its launch include:

• Greater clarity in relation to the accreditation of installations that may have received grant funding;
• A reduction in the tariff lifetime for new PV installations and extensions from the current 25 years to 20 years;
• New energy efficiency requirements for solar PV installations with a TIC of 250kW or less;
• The introduction of a multi-installation tariff for solar PV installations where the FIT Generator or nominated recipient receives FIT payments for 25 or more other installations;
• A mechanism of preliminary accreditation for ROO-FIT accredited installations i.e., wind and solar with a DNC over 50kW and all AD and hydro (See ROO-FIT for more information);
• A degression mechanism which allows for the periodic reduction in tariffs on the basis of deployment;
• Measures to provide benefits to ‘community organisations’ and ‘education providers’ installing solar PV (See Benefits for communities and schools for more information);
• Changes to tariffs for PV, Wind, Hydro and AD technologies; and
• Changes to a number of definitions, including “site”, “commissioned” and “hydro generating station”.