There have been further amendments to the Energy Bill in the Lords in connection with feed-in-tariffs. The one year implementation deadline is back in. Excellent news as the detail of how FiTs are implemented will almost inevitably be bogged down in long discussions between government and power suppliers – a one year limit should focus minds.
Also, the 50kW limit on capacity of gas CHP has been lifted. This means gas CHP could quality for a feed in tariff up to a maximum of 3MW. If gas CHP is going to be included in a FiT scheme, this is a much more sensible approach. The previous 50kW limit felt arbitrary and was likely to lead to strange unintended consequences. But I wonder if it makes sense to support gas CHP this way. Yes, it will provide some proof against an unfavourable spark spread. But even medium and small engines (say, greater than 100kW) usually stack up, given the loads. On the other hand heat networks, essential for enabling distribution of low carbon heat, almost never stack up at the moment. Shouldn’t we be focusing more attention on the networks?
The amendment was proposed by two members of the Tory front bench and has the support of Lib Dem front bench and some Labour back benchers. Even so, there’s no guarantee that the Government will accept it unless they feel the bill will be defeated otherwise.
Final reading in the Commons: this Tuesday 18 November. I’ll keep you posted.
carbon limited 
Leave a comment