Simon Phipps, CEO of Dragon Infrastructure Solutions, draws on his expertise and experience at the helm of the UK’s leading independent connections provider for large scale solar connections, to explore what we can expect from the solar market for the rest of 2015 and beyond.
There is no question that the era of substantial large scale ground mount developments, at the scale we have experienced over the last three years, ended in March of this year, when the Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs) for 5MW plus sites became unavailable to the solar industry. This inevitably created a surge of activity for developers looking to complete and connect all >5MW solar farm projects in time to receive financial support under the scheme.
The future focus of the industry will be on a move to the roof mounted, and the smaller ground mounted, sector. The solar industry will be vying for the massive existing roof space available in the UK so the smaller scale ground mount and new build rooftop sectors will provide the best opportunities for the smaller developer and investor.
There has never been an official limit for the levels of standalone solar capacity in the UK, though it is thought that we are already at the very top end of what the government was expecting. With the solar ‘ceiling’ being reached the government introduced Contracts for Difference (CfDs) to ensure enough investment happens in the other renewable and nuclear energy sectors, to further diversify the UK’s electricity generation.
This system requires an auction and bidding process where developers will need to compete against each other, but also against other technologies, for a central pot of funding.
