The NFU has warned that the Department of Energy and Climate Change has issued another consultation on cutting support for renewable energy schemes.

The DECC may introduce cuts to the Renewables Obligation as price of solar power generation continue to fall, increasing uptake of the scheme and seeing more renewable power being generated in the UK.  Proposals would reduce current support by 25 per cent from April 2013.

The NFU said its representatives were invited to discussions between renewable companies and DECC officials in September, ahead of the consultation. The union said it plans to oppose the cuts as they stand.

The NFU said on Wednesday (24th October) that "reducing the level of support too quickly may have the unintended consequence of skewing deployment towards the largest multi-megawatt projects, in the South West and South of the country."

However, the union has backed measures which would see a smaller initial reduction, cutting support from 2.0 to 1.8 Renewables Obligation Certificates as opposed to the 1.5 ROCs proposed by the government, followed by reductions of 0.1 ROCs each year thereafter.

The union claims "More moderate and progressive reductions will enable a more diverse and geographically dispersed solar power sector to emerge in Britain," improving the sustainability of the sector and creating better opportunities to transition to a truly sustainable economy. The NFU said the government has underestimated the potential of solar PV in the UK.

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