Manufacturing and Engineering Magazine Volume 420 - September 2015 | Page 7

news420.qxp_feature 2 03/08/2015 11:34 Page 5

update
EARLIER END TO SUBSIDIES FOR
NEW UK ONSHORE WIND FARMS
New onshore wind farms will be
excluded from a subsidy scheme
from 1 April 2016, a year earlier
than expected.
There will be a grace period for
projects which already have planning
permission, the Department of
Energy and Climate Change said.
Energy firms had been facing an
end to subsidies in 2017.
The funding for the subsidy
comes from the Renewables
Obligation, which is funded by
levies added to household fuel bills.
After the announcement was
made, Fergus Ewing, Scottish
minister for business, energy and
tourism and member of the
Scottish parliament, said he had

warned the UK government that
the decision could be the subject of
a judicial review.
The move was part of a
manifesto commitment by the
Conservative party ahead of the
general election in May.
"We are driving forward our
commitment to end new onshore
wind subsidies and give local
communities the final say over
any new wind farms," said Energy
and Climate Change Secretary
Amber Rudd.
"Onshore wind is an important
part of our energy mix and we now
have enough subsidised projects in
the pipeline to meet our renewable
energy commitments," she said.

THORIUM POWER IS THE SAFER FUTURE
Nuclear power has long been a
contentious topic. It generates huge
amounts of electricity with zero
carbon emissions, and thus is held
up as a solution to global energy
woes. But it also entails several