Great Britain’s Energy Pivot: From Sun to Sea

Great Britain will not be moving ahead with proposed expansions to its solar energy program, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Amber Rudd announced in mid-August.  The country’s top energy minister determined that although Great Britain’s solar energy capacity was quickly becoming the most advanced of any country in Europe, the government subsidies that enabled the growth were too great of a tax burden on Great Britain’s residents. Rudd’s new plan, which proposes a 90% cut to the government subsidies, will control what many have described as erroneous spending by the Liberal Democrats and instead appropriate a portion of the money towards funding hydraulic fracturing and shale gas exploration off of the island’s coasts.

This decision has sharply divided members of Great Britain’s energy contingent.  Proponents of the new plan cite significant economic advantages, stating that solar energy is one of the more expensive options for generating electricity, particularly in contrast to fossil fuel and gas options.  Rudd has noted specifically that British taxpayers incurred a £7 annual tax burden per household under the previous subsidies.

Many private businesses, however, have voiced opposition to Rudd’s changes.  Daniel Roca, the U.K. country manager for the solar division of Panasonic, a Japanese company and the leading supplier of solar panels in Great Britain, has urged the British government to strongly consider the “proposed cuts and the substantial damage they will inevitably and irreversibly cause.”  British Photovoltaic Association chair Reza Shaybani has criticized the new plan, saying that it contradicts Rudd’s earlier promises of a “solar revolution” and will cost 22,000 jobs.  Many critics touting the absurdity of Rudd’s plan cite estimates, released by the Solar Trade Association in July 2015, which indicate that solar energy was providing a record 15% of the U.K.’s electricity under the subsidy program.

Great Britain’s energy pivot represents what many consider to be a startling departure from a remarkably successful program.  In an age where many nations are promoting policies that provide financial incentives for private citizens to invest in solar energy, Rudd’s decision to take an alternate approach will certainly have significant implications--whether positive or negative--for the future of Great Britain’s energy market.