The commitment to an energy transition has been supported, until recently, by most politicians from all the main political parties. However, as explained in other articles, notably by Frank and Prins, the political and bureaucratic elite has never attempted to assess whether the policies adopted were, in any sense, value for money. In this article we will examine the tangled web of subsidies for renewable generation and ask what we are getting from the huge sums involved.
Large scale subsidies for renewable generation were first introduced under the Renewables Obligation, which commenced in 2002. This required energy suppliers to source a minimum proportion of the electricity they supplied from accredited renewable generators whose output was awarded Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs). The original idea was that the value of ROCs would be market-driven with a cap (the ROC buyout price) to prevent excessive costs to consumers. After lobbying by renewable generators, the rules were changed to ensure that the buyout price is effectively a floor price with the consequence that the value of a ROC has more than doubled since 2002....<<<Read More>>>...
