News

07 May 2019

Tariff changes blamed for slowing AD sector

The growth of the AD sector slowed considerably in 2018, according to a recent report published National Non-Food Crops Centre (NNFCC).

The report highlighted that just 13 new operational AD plants, outside the sewage treatment sector, where commission between April 2018 and April 2019, and over the same period just 17 projects were in development.  

Lucy Hopwood, NNFCC lead consultant for bioenergy believes the slowdown was due to a hiatus before revised Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) tariffs were introduced in May 2018 but remains positive about the future of the sector.

“It’s clearly been a year of change, but the latest deployment figures don’t reflect the level of activity we’ve seen in recent months.

“The very modest growth of operational facilities is a result of the policy hiatus surrounding both the Feed In Tariffs (FIT) and more notably, the RHI in early 2018.

“As anticipated policy announcements were delayed, developments stalled and only started to move again once the amended regulations were implemented and tariffs were confirmed.

“Although growth has been somewhat slower than expected over the past year, the reinstatement of RHI tariffs and the introduction of RHI tariff guarantees for both biomethane injection and large-scale biogas combustion has generated a flurry of recent activity.”

To find out more about the report, click here.

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