UK hits 3.56 GW of solar PV, wind under FiT in June

Solar on the roof. Author: Marufish. License: Creative Commons, Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic.

The UK’s installed solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity under the feed-in tariff (FiT) programme reached 3,149.7 MW, while wind grew to 412.8 MW, new government statistics show.

Solar PV and wind represented 84% and 11% of the total FiT capacity of 3,744.1 MW at the end of June.

In year-on-year terms, wind achieved the largest growth -- the 413 MW installed at mid-year represent a 42% increase on a year ago. Anaerobic digestion (AD) grew by 37% to 109 MW.

Earlier in July, the UK government presented a plan to end pre-accreditation under the FiT, the element that ensured projects under development could rely on a certain FiT level which would not be cut. Trade association RenewableUK last week warned that such a move would bring uncertainty and increase the development cost for medium-scale onshore wind. The Solar Trade Association (STA), meanwhile, said that the removal of pre-accreditation is not an issue for the residential or domestic solar segment, as such systems are quick to install.

The table shows capacity per source under the FiT programme.

Technology	June 2015	June 2014	December 2014
Solar PV	3,149.7 MW	2,503.9 MW	2,855.5 MW
Hydro	72.1 MW	59.9 MW	69.2 MW
Wind	412.8 MW	290.6 MW	407.9 MW
Anaerobic digestion	108.9 MW	79.5 MW	108.4 MW
Grand Total	3,744.1 MW	2,934.6 MW	3,441.7 MW

The statistics are based on data from the Microgeneration Certificate Scheme (MCS) on all sub-50 kW systems accredited on the FIT scheme, all 50 kW-plus installations accredited via the ROOFIT, and the Central FIT Tariff Register for systems that have transferred over from the Renewables Obligation (RO).

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