The Department of Energy and Climate Change will find out today if their appeal against a recent High Court ruling on the recent cuts in the feed-in tariff scheme. After it was announced by a High Court judge that the Government’s actions were legally flawed. A complaint was lodged by the DECC to the Court of Appeal.

The High Court’s statement came after it was decided that the drastic reduction in the feed-in tariff did not coincide with the scheme’s statutory purpose – to encourage small-scale, low carbon electricity generation. However, the DECC disagree with this view, claiming that the feed-in tariff cuts will actually secure the longevity of the solar industry.

A DECC spokesman highlighted the fact that main aim of the scheme was to employ a long-term strategy to encourage households and businesses to switch to solar. The DECC argue that under the previous ‘generous’ funding, the sheer number of property owners opting to take advantage of the scheme was simply unsustainable:

“Without an urgent reduction in the current tariffs, which give a very generous return, the budget for the scheme would be severely depleted and there would be very little available for future solar PV generators, or for other technologies”.

Director of TGC Renewables, Ben Cosh, counters that notion and claims that although a gradual reduction in the feed-in tariff was necessary to sustain the scheme, making such drastic measures has destabilised the solar industry.

It is expected that the DECC will announce final proposals on how to move forward with feed-in tariffs after a decisions is reached by the Court of Appeal.

We’ll keep you posted in due course.