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ePaper created 2014-06-03, 15:03:20 | version 1.30.01
79 04 RENEWABLES 2014 GLOBAL STATUS REPORT Elsewhere,AlgeriaextendedFITsupportforsolarandwindpower technologies by introducing a two-tiered payment structure offering fixed-rate tariffs for 5 years and an adjusted rate for the following 15 years; South Africa introduced new time-of-day differentiated tariffs to spur the development of CSP.49 Uganda revised its existing FIT programme to offer additional incentives, access to long-term commercial financing, and security to project developers, and also reinstated solar PV as a qualifying technology for 2014.50 In Turkey, applications opened for solar PV and CSP (600 MW) for the first time under the FIT scheme that was enacted in 2011.51 A number of feed-in policy changes were made at the sub- national level in 2013 and early 2014 in Australia, Canada, India, and the United States. South Australia amended its FIT to reduce rates for existing projects and eliminated support for new projects as of October 2013.52 Over the course of four days in 2013, Western Australia enacted and then reversed a decision to halve FIT rates for residential solar PV systems, while Australia’s Northern Territory cancelled its FIT as of January 2013, with support now coming from renewable energy credits.53 Nova Scotia, Canada, added FIT rates for tidal arrays to its existing programme. Ontario revised its FIT in response to an internal review and to the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling on the province’s domestic content requirement: the requirement was reduced to a local content share of 19–28% (depending on technology) in mid-2013, and then removed entirely in December.54 While Ontario maintained existing rates for wind power, it increased rates for hydropower, bioenergy, and biogas, and reduced them for solar PV (down as much as 39%) and landfill gas (down 31%).55 For all renewable energy projects larger than 500 kW, Ontario replaced FIT support with a competitive bidding scheme.56 In India, the Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission retained its FIT despite the state government’s pressure to reduce rates.57 In the United States, no new FITs were added for the second consecutive year (although legislation was introduced to establish a statewide FIT in Maine), keeping the number of states with FITs at five. Rhode Island amended its existing FIT to require that small- scale (50 kW to 1.5 MW, depending on the technology) distributed generation projects submit competitive bids to determine the rate of financial support, as is required for large-scale projects.58 RPS laws or “quotas” mandating the use of specific shares or quantities of renewable power are in place in 25 countries at the national level and 54 states/provinces in the United States, Canada, and India. No new countries, states, or provinces adopted RPS laws in 2013, but several states and provinces enacted revisions. In the United States, although the number of states with RPS policies remained at 29 by year’s end, RPS policies came under increasing political pressure during 2013.59 There were efforts to weaken or eliminate existing laws in many states, and reviews were undertaken in 16 states.60 In response to these reviews, several states introduced changes that were both positive and negative for renewables. California revised its regulations to allow its Public Utilities Commission to raise the RPS requirement without legislation, but as of early 2014, the RPS goal remained at 33%.61 Minnesota revised its RPS policy to include a 1.5% solar PV requirement for utilities.62 Colorado doubled its renewable requirement for co-operative utilities and created a distributed renewable generation requirement, although the revised legislation also expanded the list of eligible technologies to include coal-mine methane, synthetic gas, and fuel cells.63 The Energy Act adopted in the U.K. in 2013 established a number of new provisions, including the 2017 phaseout of the Renewables Obligation for new participants.64 Tamil Nadu, India, overturned its requirement for solar power to meet 3–6% of industrial electricity demand.65 New net metering policies were adopted in 5 countries at the nationallevelin2013,bringingthetotalto43countries.InEurope, Greece enacted a net metering programme for small-scale solar policies in place in 2004 policies enacted 2005–2009 policies enacted 2010–early 2014 no policy or no data Developing and emerging countries with Figure 30. Developing and Emerging Countries with Renewable Energy Policies, 2004, 2009, Early 2014Figure 30. Developing and Emerging Countries with Renewable Energy Policies, 2004, 2009, and Early 2014