Regulation piles pressure on booming renewables trusts

Renewable energy investment trusts are facing a shake-up as the government attempts to rein in spending on subsidies for solar development.

The Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) has begun a consultation with industry participants ending 7 July on how to control spending on new large-scale solar farms after a greater than expected take-up. It is planning to tighten up subsidies – which make up more than half the revenues for renewables trusts – in April 2015, two years earlier than expected. The system is expected to be replaced by an agreement known as Contracts for Difference (CfD), which guarantee a minimum price for energy linked to CPI. “[Trusts] typically generate 50%-60% of revenue from government subsidi...