Claus Jacobsen, sales director of wind turbine manufacturer, Evance, responds to the government's renewable energy strategy, announced on 15 July.

Claus Jacobsen, sales director of wind turbine manufacturer, Evance, has responded to the government's renewable energy strategy, announced on 15 July.

He says: "We welcome a change in the regional planning process - currently complicated and slow - that will support customers wanting to install small scale renewable products. The government include small wind turbines in the category being considered as part of that reform.

"Feed in tariffs make the package attractive and even more financially viable to consumers, which is a key part of driving consumer take up of small wind, particularly in the current climate. An Evance R9000 will generate between £2,000 and £3,000 per year, more on windy sites. This bring payback down to 6 years for a domestic UK site with £2.5k grant assuming £20k installed cost. For a good LCBP site with £10k grant, payback is just 3 years! Particularly positive is the combination of the LCBP and the FIT programmes for schools and farmers.

"The government is not clear about the financial support available to assist larger-scale manufacturing operations which will drive mass market take up (and therefore reduce costs). We seek further clarification on this, but welcome the indication of support in finding investment and access to development loans. If the UK is to be a world leader in the manufacturing of renewables, as is government's vision, financial support will need to support this vision.

"It remains striking, though, that the FIT is not technology neutral, particularly between wind and PV. In reality the report favors Solar PV, which is bizarre in a country like the UK, which has considerably stronger wind resource over sun. In these times we should consider that the UK features some of the worlds leading small wind technologies - in the case of Evance, 100 per cent designed, manufactured and assembled in the UK (unlike imported solar panels.)"