| As the Renewable Energy Association
prepares to set out its proposals for UK feed-in tariff, green
energy provider Good Energy has announced it is to increase
the payments it already makes to home-owners and small businesses
that generate renewable energy on-site, from 10p to 15p per
KWh.
The increased payment, which will take effect from 1 April,
applies to all the energy the company's HomeGen customers
produce using micro-generation technologies such as solar
panels or small-scale wind turbines and not just the power
they export to the grid.
Juliet Davenport, Good Energy’s founder and chief executive,
urged the UK government to adopt the model as the basis for
its planned feed-in tariff, arguing that it is important to
reward total generation rather than just exported electricity,
as it encourages more efficient use of the power produced
by micro-generation systems.
According to Good
Energy, the increase in payments means that a customer
with a 2KW solar generator boasting an estimated annual generation
of 1,750kWh, would receive approximately £245. In addition,
if the customer used just half of this power on-site, reducing
the amount of power they need to draw from the grid, they
would cut their electricity bills by £123 a year.
The scheme - which essentially involves Good Energy selling
less energy over the grid and paying customers to use energy
they produce and use themselves - is made financially viable
by the UK government's Renewables Obligation subsidy mechanism,
which allows the company to bundle together the power it has
bought from customers and sell the renewable obligation certificates
that are issued against it.
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