This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Proposals to exploit 'energy crops'
29/08/2003
Proposals to boost the use of bio-mass power in generating stations are published today in an Executive consultation paper.
The proposals will mainly benefit farmers who grow energy crops and operators of co-firing power stations - those that burn a combination of biomass and fossil fuels. They follow informal consultation with generators and other interested stakeholders.
Deputy Enterprise Minister Lewis Macdonald said :
"The Executive is committed to increasing the development of renewable energy, and these proposals will help towards achieving our targets."
The Renewables Obligation (Scotland) sets out targets for energy suppliers to source an increasing amount of their energy from renewable sources. A separate full-scale review of how well the ROS is meeting its aim of supporting renewables development will be carried out in 2005-2006.
The proposals are designed to give farmers more time to plant and harvest energy crops, creating more incentives and certainty for the energy crops market.
The main proposals are :
- Extend the timescale by which co-firing generators will be eligible to benefit from Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) from 2011 to 2016
- Extend the eligibility timescale for which co-firing generators can use any type of biomass from 2006 to 2009
- Stage the current limit of eligible biomass that must come from energy crops from 25 per cent to 75 per cent over 2009 - 2016
- Reduce the 25 per cent cap from co-firing on an individual supplier's obligation to 10 per cent from April 2006 until end March 2011. This would be further reduced to five per cent from April 2011 to end March 2016 to reduce the risk of flooding the market with ROCs
A further proposal is to enable smaller generators to gain Renewable Obligation Certificates. Those that do not produce enough electricity in a month to qualify for a Certificate may be awarded certificates based on their annual output.
The changes proposed today follow a technical review of the ROS by independent consultants commissioned by the Department of Trade and Industry. The DTI today publishes an equivalent consultation paper for the Renewables Obligation for England and Wales.