He said, ‘This investment will provide a welcome boost to the Green Deal – an initiative that is still struggling to get off the ground – and provides a necessary financial incentive for the public to invest in renewables. It should also benefit electrical contractors, who are ideally placed to advise clients on which measures are best and can carry out any necessary installations.’
Wright continued, ‘The significant short term interest in renewables brought about earlier this year by the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund highlights the impact incentives can have on the public’s interest in renewable energy. However, what this sector, consumers and businesses need is long term stability rather than a series of short term incentives. Allowing FITs income to count towards the Green Deal’s Golden Rule would provide a long term incentive to invest in renewables, open up the small scale solar market, and make solar technology more attractive and accessible to hundreds of thousands of consumers.’
He concluded, ‘The second anniversary of the Green Deal is coming up and the incentive has achieved less than 20 per cent of the target the Government set for its first year in operation. Something needs to happen – and quickly – for the Green Deal to make the impact it should, and a series of well structured, well thought out incentives will provide the jump-start it needs.’