UK further loses renewables appeal in Ernst & Young index

Sep 16, 2014 - The UK dropped to the seventh position in the most recent “all renewables” country attractiveness index by Ernst & Young, negatively affected by policy hurdles in the country.

The UK scored 59.2 out of 100 points in April-June, losing its sixth spot from the previous quarter. Thus, the country’s appeal for renewables investment reached its lowest level for almost five years, Ernst & Young said in a report, released on Tuesday.

The decline comes as a result of the UK government’s decision to cut the Renewables Obligation (RO) incentive for solar projects larger than 5 MW from next year, two years earlier than planned, as well as due to budgetary constraints for future projects under the Contract for Difference (CfD) support scheme. The country has allocated almost all financing for projects under the programme through to 2020. “What we are seeing is a ‘perfect storm’ of reasons prompting a fall in the appeal of the UK’s renewables market,” said environmental finance leader Ben Warren.

The uncertainty around the CfD financing has already led to the cancellation of several offshore wind projects, Ernst & Young noted. Nevertheless, the UK has an impressive offshore wind project pipeline and is currently the sixth country to exceed the 5-GW threshold for installed solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity, according to NPD Solarbuzz. The country added 1.5 GW of fresh PV capacity in the first half of 2014, more than in the whole 2013.

China, the US, Germany, Japan and Canada were the five most appealing renewable energy markets in the second quarter of 2014.

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