New Clause 29 - Simplification of Renewable Energy Certificates for microgeneration
Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Bill
4:45 pm
Mark Lazarowicz (Edinburgh North and Leith, Labour)
New clause 29 deals primarily with the simplification of renewable energy certificates for microgeneration. I am aware that in due course the Government will make suggestions to simplify the so-called sale and buy-back agreements—or indeed to remove the need for them in appropriate circumstances—and to allow for what is called amalgamation, effectively pooling a number of individual microgenerating units so that they can be treated as one rather than requiring each to be considered separately.
It has been pointed out to me by those in the industry who are concerned with the issue that such proposals will still not remove some fairly onerous administrative provisions for those who wish to claim renewable energy certificates for microgeneration. For example, there is a requirement for an additional meter that must be read each year, and the meter might not be the responsibility of the supplier who provides the customer with the electricity that they purchase. That drives the need for two meter readings, both of which must be processed, thereby increasing the transaction cost.
I am also told that for some reason there is a requirement that the renewables obligation certificate meter must be read within an 11-day period that most frequently happens to fall during the school holidays, which does not assist people who want easy access to the renewables obligation certificate meter. It has been suggested that the approach should be to allow instead a proper product and installation standard-based approach, whereby the technology type is tested and fitted to an approved standard. Based on that assessment of the type, it would be possible to assess what renewables obligation certificate should be granted in the case of the consumer in question. That would greatly reduce the transaction costs to which I have referred.
The new clause would not require the Government to introduce the type approvals system; it would merely remove a legislative block preventing the introduction of such approvals without new primary legislation. Those who want to see that change accept that the proposal needs more work, and my new clause is therefore essentially a probing amendment to ask the Government to consider how best to move towards allowing type approval for renewables obligation certificates. If type approval were allowed, it would certainly assist the take-up of microgeneration by domestic and small-scale consumers.