UK government confirms plans to end feed-in tariff payments for new solar installations

The UK government has confirmed plans to end its “feed-in” tariff payments for new installations of household solar from next year.

The scheme will close on 31 March 2019, says the Guardian, meaning “anyone who adds solar from April 2019 will not be paid for any excess power they export to the grid”.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said it was ending the “export tariff”, which provides a guaranteed price for all unused solar electricity, to minimize costs to all consumers.

The change will not affect the 800,000 homes that already have solar panels, notes the Daily Mail.

More than 91 percent of respondents to a consultation over the move disagreed with proposals to ax the tariff, and a campaign to save it has been backed by the Mayor of London, MPs and many large and small energy firms.

BEIS says it will “consult shortly on a future framework for small-scale renewable energy generation”.

This would lay out new rules for how energy suppliers could buy excess power, though they would not be mandated to do so.