Comments on Government renewables support rates

RNS Number : 0708I

Good Energy Group PLC

28 June 2013

 



28 June 2013

Good Energy Group plc

Good Energy welcomes Government announcement on long-term renewables support rates

Good Energy Group plc ("Good Energy" or the "Company"), owner of Good Energy Limited, the 100% renewable electricity supplier, has today welcomed the publication of the draft "Strike Prices" that will determine future levels of Government support  for different  types  of renewable energy project. .

Commenting, Juliet Davenport OBE, CEO and founder of Good Energy, said:

"We warmly welcome the move to provide long-term transparency by publishing these draft levels, which are in line with industry expectations. Once they are finally confirmed, investors should have the financial and political certainty they need to back new renewable energy projects developed between now and the end of the decade."

As part of its long-term plans to expand its customer base to over 125,000 accounts, Good Energy intends to develop 110MW of new renewable energy capacity by 2016.. Yesterday's announcement published draft Strike Price levels from 2014 through to 2019 and more information on how support levels are to be calculated.

The Company believes that the announcement will allow the UK Government to continue to building on its strong track record of supporting renewable energy projects regardless of new policy changes. The existing Renewables Obligation will run in parallel with the new Contracts for Difference regime between 2014 and 2017, before its closure to new entrants in that year.

Juliet Davenport continues:

"One of the things that isn't recognized enough amongst investors is that the UK Government has a particularly strong record in honouring support levels for existing renewable energy projects, regardless of what changes for new projects then come in.

"That commitment goes right to the way schemes are structured. In being designed to be funded through energy bills rather than Government revenue, they avoid many of the problems we've seen in other countries where support levels have been reduced retrospectively in order to tackle national Government deficits.

"We would still like to see more targeted support for medium-scale projects but overall, we're confident that the Government is putting in place a solid transitional regime for the introduction of Feed-in Tariff Contracts for Difference. "

ENDS

For further information, please contact:  

Good Energy Group plc    Juliet Davenport OBE, Chief Executive	01249 766795
N+1 Singer (Nominated Adviser & Broker)  Andrew Craig, Ben Wright	020 7496 3000

Notes to Editors

·     Good Energy Group plc is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange. For more information please visit: www.goodenergygroup.co.uk 

·     Good Energy is a licensed electricity supplier. It ensures that all their electricity is 100% matched with electricity sourced from renewable energy, backed by Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin certificates (REGOs) over the course of 12 months. To compare the fuel mix of other suppliers please visit: www.electricityinfo.org/suppliers.php  

·     Good Energy has over 32,000 renewable electricity customers. In 2008, Good Energy added a Gas product to its range. It now has over 8,500 gas customers.

·     Good Energy works with a community of over 46,000 small and medium scale renewable electricity generators.

·     Good Energy is the owner of Delabole Wind Farm, the UK's first commercial wind farm. It has targeted the development of 110MW of capacity of new renewable electricity generation assets by 2016.

·     Good Energy has recently won a number of awards, including:

o  Good Energy has come top in the latest Which? Customer Satisfaction Survey for energy suppliers in 3 of the last 4 years.

o  Juliet Davenport won PLUS markets CEO of the Year in 2009, 2010 and 2012 and Good Energy won the 2012 PLUS markets Investor Communication of the Year.

o  Juliet Davenport named CEO of the Year and overall winner at People and Environment Business Awards 2012.

o  Juliet Davenport named 'First Woman of Retail and Consumer' at First Women Awards 2011.

 

END

 

 

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