The proposal for a solar farm on fields between Thriplow and Whittlesford may not be built after all. The subsidy for solar power that made these schemes viable is being quickly reviewed by the government, and could mean the feed-in tariff rate paid per kilowatt (over a 25 year period, guaranteed) cut from over 30 pence to 8 pence for large schemes of over 5 megawatts.
This means that household and school/village hall solar panel installations will still get a good rate of return, but the schemes for 250 or so panels in a field will not. I think this is a good move, and I was on the very listenable andy harper show on radio cambridgeshire yesterday morning to say why. This will take the edge of a market that was in danger of rapidly over-heating (no pun intended).
But watch this space for government plans to make putting up with wind turbines more attractive, by giving the business rate paid by the turbine company to the local community. No easy answers on energy at the moment.
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