THE CARBON WAR

Chapter 27
We are backed by billions
Birmingham, 13 th October 2015
The UK solar industry’s main annual trade show, at the National Exhibition
Centre. Walking the avenues between the exhibition stands, it is not obvious
that this is an industry in crisis. Elaborate displays manned by earnest people
sprawl into the distance, brands to the fore and slogans shouting positivity.
The crowds seem no thinner than previous years, no less a mix of nationalities.
But I am stopped half a dozen times before I have progressed fifty yards into
the great hall: each time by people worried for their companies, or their jobs,
or supply prospects. Wondering if there is anything I can tell them that they
don’t already know. There isn’t.
“Wind and solar keep getting cheaper and cheaper”, a Washington Post
headline announced a few days ago. President Obama himself tweeted that
one. But in the UK? In recent days more than a thousand jobs have been lost
as three of the bigger companies fold. The solar trade association says tens of
thousands could follow. The government’s own estimate for the impact of its
proposed subsidy cuts show that up to 22,000 jobs could be lost in the solar
sector. This to achieve a cost saving of only £0.04-0.10 a month on the average
electricity bill: around £1 a year. Meanwhile they pile multiple billions into a
single nuclear plant, and they intend £100,000 bungs for each and every shale
fracking pad they can get away with.
I have written to the new Secretary of State for Energy and Climate, Amber
Rudd, asking for a meeting. She professes herself too busy.
I do what I can to comfort anguished industry colleagues. I make my
way slowly to the Solarcentury stand. It is completely dedicated to our new
Sunstation product this year. I talk with the team running it. They report brisk
business and multiple accolades for the product. But most people enquiring
make no commitments to buy.