The Ulster Farmers Union has criticised a decision by the Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment (DETI) to launch a two week consultation on the early closure of the Northern Ireland Renewable Obligation (NIRO) for onshore wind generation.
In June the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said it was closing its Renewables Obligation support for onshore wind generation. In response the local DETI minister, Jonathan Bell, said he did not intend to follow the Westminster government’s policy with an early closure of the scheme here. “This was welcomed by the UFU, but now the plan is to close the NIRO scheme in March 2016. This is a year earlier than planned, and to give only two weeks of consultation is inadequate in light of the implications for the small scale renewables sector in Northern Ireland,” said UFU rural enterprise chairman Gary Hawkes.
The early closure decision was made because to continue the NIRO until March 2017, would have meant an additional cost to consumers. “However if you separate small scale (less than 250 kW) from large scale, an already small cost to consumers becomes miniscule. This is why the UFU wants small scale wind generation to be separated,” said Mr Hawkes.
Ever since the NIRO was launched, the small scale wind sector has been reset by grid connection problems.“NIE Project 40 will not be available until spring 2016 at the earliest. Our members who have already committed funds to a wind turbine may only be connected to the grid then. This early closure will make that too late, leaving many out of pocket,” stressed Mr Hawkes.
The UFU will lobby DECC in London to extend the consultation period and allow small scale wind to continue to avail of the NIRO until March 2017. “The early closure will put at risk the use of small scale turbines located on day to day farming business. These are farms that would use wind energy to not only reduce energy costs, but to boost energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions,” he said.
'Shocked but not surprised'
In June, the NFU said it was frustrated that following Government announcements limiting support for onshore wind power, changes to the planning regime (made without consultation) now fail to distinguish between large wind farms and single turbines.
In written ministerial statements, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Greg Clark, said that new planning rules would take effect from June 18; and Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Amber Rudd, proposed constraints on support for onshore wind under the Renewables Obligation and possibly the Feed-in Tariff.
The NFU is concerned about the impact this may have on farmers and growers wishing to diversify their businesses with on-site power generation, the income from which will help make their farm enterprises more profitable and resilient in a volatile world.
NFU President Meurig Raymond said: “We are shocked but not surprised at the extent of this apparent U-turn by Government in low-carbon energy policy. These new planning rules could significantly impact on our members’ ability to invest in wind projects on farm, reduce their input costs and make farm enterprises more sustainable.
“We strongly believe that the Government should have consulted more widely, to ensure that these guidelines were fair and workable before bringing them into force.
“The NFU would like to see a distinction made between ‘farm wind’ and ‘ wind farms’, in order to enable our members to continue diversifying and supporting their businesses with locally generated renewable energy.
“It does not appear that local planning authorities have been given the chance to get the necessary local plan policies in place. Furthermore, it may be hard for planners to judge whether, after consultation, ‘all the planning impacts identified by affected local communities have been fully addressed’.”
