The WFC’s Global Feed-in Tariffs Project

The World Future Council made climate change and renewable energy its first campaign area. Climate change is driven chiefly by the burning of fossil fuels, through a huge variety of human activities. These activities could instead be fuelled by renewable energy sources, which will not only protect the climate and human health, but also be the foundation of a new economic, industrial and social revolution. Importantly, energy security is guaranteed because the ‘fuels’ are mostly free, and by definition, inexhaustible.

The variety and importance of the benefits makes speedy deployment of renewable energies a priority. This means effective policy implementation. It has been empirically proven that no policy delivers more renewable energy, faster, cheaper and more equitably than feed-in tariffs (FITs), also known as Renewable Energy Payments (REPs).

The World Future Council has therefore worked since mid-2006 to advocate this policy internationally. We have worked an all continents, and continue to do so, providing print and web-based resources, as well as direct engagement through consultancy, advocacy, networking, coalition-building, hearings, events and workshops.

What are FITs?

Feed-in Tariffs:

• help secure domestic energy supply
• accelerate the transition to a low carbon energy system
• create new jobs and industries
• guarantee investment security
• drive technological and service innovation
• provide fair market conditions
• drive deployment faster, more equitably and cheaply than other policies

Feed-in tariffs are legally guaranteed payments for electricity produced by green energies such as solar, wind, biomass or small hydro power plants that is being fed into the national electricity grid.

These long-term payments to operators of renewable energy installations, be they household, business, community or utility scale, are differentiated by scale and technology. This differentiation is based on what it actually costs to produce energy from each technology, to ensure a reasonable profit.

As costs decline, and the technology nears grid parity, so do the payments – this means that if you build this year, you receive x dollars per kilowatt hour for a guaranteed period of 20 years; if you build next year, you get x dollars minus 5 per cent, for example. This encourages faster deployment, and creates pressure on manufacturers to increase efficiency and improve overall product design and delivery. You only get paid for the energy you produce, so the equipment must be as efficient as possible.

The law ensures stability, and investment security. Because it ensures deployment, a mass market can be created which continually increases technological efficiency. It improves conditions for deployment in the developing world as they can get cheaper solar and wind on site, without requiring a grid.

They are often funded by a small increase in the cost of all consumers’ utility bills, which makes the cost increase very minor, particularly in view of the multiple economic, social and environmental benefits.

WFC FIT Resources and Activities

Book. Feed-In Tariffs: Accelerating the Deployment of Renewable Energy. This book describes the history and development of the laws in key countries, as well as providing invaluable information on policy design and other useful resource material. It compares FITs with other support schemes, examines barriers to renewables deployment and looks at rules for effective implementation. The paperback is now available.
In time for the COP15 in December in Copenhagen, a follow-up book will be published, co-authored by Miguel Mendonça of the WFC, and two international FIT experts, David Jacobs and Benjamin Sovacool. This will be an in-depth examination of the law, its spread and development, and its place as a critical driver of the transition in our energy systems. It is titled Powering the Green Economy: The Feed-in Tariff Handbook, and published through Earthscan.
Guide for policymakers. The basic information and arguments are outlined for policymakers, opinion-formers and advocates in this short pamphlet.
FIT design website. Working with legal and policy experts, we have created a unique website which provides analyses of existing FITs worldwide. It is called the Policy Action on Climate Toolkit (PACT). It even allows the user to design a simple draft law, and provides guidance on what has worked, and not worked, in different countries. To aid the sharing of international expertise with FITs, we have set up a roster of over 40 experts on the PACT site. For those seeking assistance with the development of a law, or advocacy work, the table provides information on the experts including their competencies, location, languages spoken and contact details.
Policy analysis tools. We have screened the German Feed-In Tariffs with our Future Justice criteria for Best Policy selection. You can read the legal research paper where the principles are developed from existing international law, and read the FIT analysis.
Workshops and events. Our campaign staff have held, co-hosted and participated in many renewable energy events in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia.
North America. We now have a US office being set up. The energy policies of the incoming President will keep us even busier than we have been. In North America, our Power to the People campaign work has included the formation of ARE, the Alliance for Renewable Energy. It unites many people working toward the implementation of Renewable Energy Payments (REPs). In 2008 we took a group of US utility executives on a fact-finding visit to Germany, resulting in a Florida utility bringing in a FIT this year. We are active in various other states through ARE, and will continue to push for state-level as well as federal-level legislation.
European Union (EU). In the EU, we have been involved in ongoing negotiations concerning a major piece of legislation on the support of renewable energy. A key part of this has concerned protecting existing FIT laws in the member states.
United Kingdom. In the UK, we commissioned an expert report on the potentials of a FIT system for small scale renewable energy solutions. Download the summary or the full report. This work helped create a large movement in the UK towards bringing in a FIT. The coalition has been very successful so far, and the UK government has recently announced it will implement a FIT.
International news. For those wishing to keep up with FIT developments around the world, we set up a free international news group.
Recommended reading. We have compiled a list of key papers in the discussion of renewable energy deployment. The WFC thanks the authors for their permission to post them here.

Collaboration

We now have a huge and ever-growing global network of expert contacts on renewable energy, helping to make this work more effective. The WFC campaign staff are always happy to work with others from any nation or region on the implementation of FITs. In addition to all the individuals we have worked with, we have collaborated with many organisations internationally:

Advanced Solar Products

Alliance for Renewable Energy

American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE)

As You Sow Foundation

BP Solar

BSW-Solar/ German Solar Industry Association

Canadian Renewable Energy Alliance

Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies (CEERT)

Centre for International Sustainable Development Law (CISDL)

Community Power Fund Ontario

E-Parliament

EarthAction