A new report reveals that renewable energy has more than doubled in the past year in the south west of England, creating thousands of new renewables jobs.
Carried out annually by independent experts Regen SW, the Renewable Energy Progress Report – which collects together information on all of the known renewable electricity and heat projects in the south west – reveals that:
• Renewable electricity capacity increased from 217 MW in 2010/11 to 525 MW in 2011/12 • Renewable heat capacity grew from 91.5 MW in 2010/11 to 119 MW in 2011/12
The growth is dominated by solar PV, which has seen 160 MW of smaller-scale PV and 75 MW of stand-alone solar parks installed in the past year.
This investment in renewables has resulted in rapid growth in jobs, and Regen SW estimates that 10,000 people are now employed in the sector in the south west. This represents jobs growth of 40 per cent year-on-year for the past few years– in the teeth of the recession.
Merlin Hyman, Regen SW chief executive, said: “This has been an exciting year for renewables – but it could be just the start. Renewable energy is the greatest economic opportunity of the decade: lead the way and we will enable great businesses to develop, flourish and sell their technologies and skills around the world.”
The report sets out five lessons to make the most of jobs and growth potential from renewable energy: * Clear, consistent government policy is vital: Clarity on ROCs, Electricity Market Reform and Renewable Heat Incentive over coming months will be vital * Targeted strategies are needed nationally and locally to make the most of the economic opportunities from renewable energy * Some elected representatives are misreading the public mood: there is a strong and consistent majority in favour of renewables * We need all renewables: there is no silver-bullet technology. * Communities must be more engaged in renewable energy developments
Today’s report confirms: “2011/2012 was an exceptional year for the deployment of renewable electricity projects in the south west of England. Installed capacity more than doubled, from 218 MW a year ago, to 525 MW in April this year. The number of projects installed increased by over 47,000, a dramatic leap from the 2010/2011 total of 8084 projects.
“This sharp increase can be attributed to three main areas of development: 185 MW of small and medium scale solar photovoltaic (PV) installations; over 75 MW of stand-alone solar farms; and the construction of the 66 MW wind farm at Fullabrook in North Devon. Whilst the construction of Fullabrook has been long anticipated, the effect of the Feed in Tariff (FiT) on both capacity and numbers of PV projects was largely unexpected.
“Renewable electricity capacity in the south west has increased by 162 per cent in the last year, whereas generation has increased by only 56 per cent . It is now estimated that in total the renewable energy projects currently installed in the south west generate 1.4 TWh of electricity – around 5.5 per cent of the most recent total electricity demand figures for the region of 25 TWh . This is significantly lower than the national picture, where 11 per cent of electricity was supplied from renewable sources at the start of 2012 .
“The challenge is not the availability of resources. In 2010 Regen SW undertook an assessment of onshore renewable energy resources. The assessment found there are resources for over 27.6 TWh of renewable energy within the region, the majority of this from renewable electricity and combined heat and power generators. It is clear that with only 525 MW of installed capacity, generating an estimated 1.4 TWh, there is a long way to go before the region begins to run out of potential resources.”
