News Article
UK Commitment
Nextenergy capital commits to UK solar industry
NextEnergy Capital, the European Merchant Bank operating at the cutting-edge of the renewable energy and clean technology sector, has reiterated its commitment to the development of a UK solar PV industry, despite the confusion caused by a surprise ‘fast-track review' of the UK Feed-In Tariff mechanism.
The firm, already a major player in the Italian solar market, has announced the appointment of Jannie Retief as its Managing Director for UK Operations. Dr. Retief, a veteran of the UK renewable energy industry, will lead the development of up to three industrial-scale solar PV installations of between 3 - 5 MW each. NEC planned to have the installations connected to the Grid by mid-summer 2011, in the belief that the industrial scale solar can accelerate the UK's progress against its 2020 renewable targets. Dr. Retief will also be responsible for progressing NEC's pipeline of residential installations.
NextEnergy Capital underlined its commitment to the sector last week by gathering more than 200 UK solar investors and developers for a series of discussions on how the nascent UK solar industry can learn from the lessons seen in other, more developed, European markets.
Commenting on the acceleration of the Government's review of feed-in tariffs, Aldo Beolchini, CFO at NextEnergy Capital, said: “This makes it extremely difficult to invest in UK solar with confidence. Nonetheless NextEnergy Capital remains committed to completing the development of our most advanced solar projects in which we have already invested a significant proportion of time and resources, and expect to be able to start construction of the first of three plants shortly.
“It would make sense for the Review to grandfather those projects which have genuinely commenced construction by a specified date and where the developer is serious about a rapid completion, a move that would help reassure current and future investors.”