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News Release from: Solarcentury | Subject: Solar photovoltaics
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 28 June 2005
Solar power in the lurch
Gulf between Tony Blair's pledges and action leaves solar power in the lurch.
On the morning of his speech announcing the climate and Africa themes for the G8 summit, September 14th 2004, Tony Blair visited solarcentury in Waterloo to highlight his commitment to climate change "This is a huge issue for us," the PM told solarcentury's young team of committed green professionals, "we've got the EU presidency as well next year so there's a real chance of getting some synergy between the political agenda and the environmental agenda internationally"
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 2 Nov 2005 at 8.00am (UK)
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Posing for photographers on the roof of solarcentury, Mr Blair pledged his support for continued governmental support to build renewable energy markets.
Where the UK solar photovoltaics (PV) industry is concerned, government support has to date involved the Major Photovoltaics Demonstration Programme (MDP), which was planned to run from 2002 to 2012.
The GBP31m grant programme has been instrumental in encouraging major companies, such as the Japanese group Sharp, to set up manufacturing plants in the UK and has helped thousands of UK residents go solar.
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At the time, Mr Blair recognised the importance of supporting the fledgling solar industry: "First of all there's keeping the funding going through the renewables programme," he told the solarcentury staff, "which we will do".
In March 2005, five months after the PM's visit, the government announced the end of the MDP.
Both the MDP and the Clearskies Programme (for solar thermal and other renewable microgeneration technologies) will officially end by March 2006, six years sooner than planned.
The DTI have said they will be replaced by a technology-blind Low Carbon Buildings Programme, but cannot tell the solar industry how much funding will be involved, or assure the industry that there won't be a ruinous gap in support that will stall the markets created to date.
This has been worrying news for the young solarcentury professionals who heard the Prime Minister's talk about his hopes for G8.
Andy Bodycombe, head of Project Management at solarcentury, remembers asking Mr Blair what had persuaded him climate change was such an important issue.
"He looked me in the eye and told me that increased scientific evidence means this is 'a really important issue.
It is here and now'.
Having heard his other promises about 'keeping the funding going' I was impressed with his sincerity.
Now however I am seriously concerned for the future of the solar industry and am no longer convinced that Mr Blair is as serious about tackling climate change as he led me to believe." Kirsty Stevenson, a project manager at solarcentury, remembers Tony Blair asking her "What do you think the most important thing for government to do is?" "I encouraged him to continue to support the technology and innovation and to help get it more into the mainstream," says Kirsty.
"Mr Blair told us: 'I think the other thing that is necessary is if we can use public procurement and new buildings to usher in certain economies of scale.' Statements like that really made me think he was serious but perhaps he was just saying what we wanted to hear.
Considering that the government's chief scientist has warned that climate change is our greatest global threat, the government seems to be seriously lagging behind Germany and Japan, for example, in committing support to renewables.' solarcentury's CEO, Jeremy Leggett, wrote directly to the Prime Minister on the 15th of June this year appealing for an end to the 'crippling uncertainty' that faces the UK PV industry.
Jeremy's point is clear: "We have been given promises that our market will be stimulated to grow - explicitly in the Energy White Paper, by Ministers, and implicitly by the PM on his visit to us.
We can't understand why they aren't being met, and why we face the prospect of a ruinous gap in government support, especially given the importance of global warming in the G8".
Solar photovoltaics are generating fast-growing amounts of electricity now, and can make a significant contribution to the Government's target of generating 20% of our electricity from renewable sources by 2020 provided the market is stimulated to grow today the way it is in Germany, Japan, California and elsewhere.
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