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While not exhaustive, this site contains an extensive collection of articles on Feed-in Tariffs, Advanced Renewable Tariffs, and Renewable Energy Payments. Learn more about feed-in tariffs and how they have been successful in Europe, and how they can benefit North Americans by following the links below.
Sign Up, if you would like to be added to my email distribution list on developments in feed-in tariff policy, especially in North America.--Paul Gipe
What are Feed-in Tariffs?
Feed-in tariffs are simply payments per kilowatt-hour for electricity generated by a renewable resource. In North America this simple idea is known by many different names:
Electricity Feed Laws, Feed-in Laws, Feed-in Tariffs (FITs), Advanced Renewable Tariffs (ARTs), Renewable Tariffs, Renewable Energy Payments, and more recently CLEAN (for Clean Local Energy Accessible Now) contracts. Regardless of the name, they are the world's most successful policy mechanism for stimulating the rapid development of renewable energy.
Feed-in tariffs are also the most egalitarian method for determining where, when, and how much renewable generating capacity will be installed. Renewable Tariffs enable homeowners, farmers, cooperatives, and First Nations (Native North Americans) to participate on an equal footing with large commercial developers of renewable energy.
Electricity Feed Laws permit the interconnection of renewable sources of electricity with the electric-utility network and at the same time specify how much the renewable generator is paid for their electricity and over how long a period.
Electricity Feed Laws are widely used in Europe, most notably in Germany, France, and Spain.
Advanced Renewable Tariffs (ARTs) are the modern version of Electricity Feed Laws. ARTs differ from simpler feed-in tariffs in several important ways. Most importantly, ARTs are differentiated by technology, application, project size, or resource intensity. There is one price for wind energy, another price for solar, and so on. Tariffs within each technology can also be differentiated by project size or, in the case of wind and solar energy, by the productivity of the resource. Tariffs for new projects are also subject to periodic review to determine if the tariffs are sufficiently robust to meet the targets desired in the time allotted.
What are Tariffs?
Tariffs are the price paid per kilowatt-hour of electricity consumed, or in this case, generated. The term is commonly used in North America's electric utility industry. The term is also commonly used in Europe. Tariffs are not taxes nor in this context customs duties on goods crossing international borders.
Renewable Energy Tariffs by Country
General Articles
- Cleantechnia: More feed-in tariffs will drive fast installation of rooftop solar--In North America and around the world, I think we’ll see more governments moving forward with feed-in tariff policies to support solar. Why? Well, simply put, it’s been the most effective policy for driving solar power installation around the world. . .
- Ecofys: Policy instrument design to reduce financing costs in renewable energy technology projects--Feed-in tariff (FIT) and -premium (FIP) schemes: The most important element of FIP and FIT schemes is that they fully (FIT) or partially (FIP) remove the market risks of a project during a fixed period of time. The longer this period of guaranteed prices, the lower the cost of capital. . .
- Snapshot of Feed-in Tariffs around the World in 2011 of Feed-in Tariffs around the World in 2011>--Feed-in tariffs are the world's most popular renewable energy policy mechanism. Despite the economic recession, more and more jurisdictions are turning to feed-in tariffs to spur not only renewable energy development but also industrial development and the attendant jobs that it creates. . . The following article is a snapshot of where feed-in tariffs are being used, and the prices that are being paid. While extensive, this article is not comprehensive. It does not include every tariff for every technology in every jurisdiction, but it does give a flavor for the breadth of this policy mechanism with the odd name. . .
- Deutsche Bank Examines German PV FITs--One of the world's largest banks has issued a report examining how to design feed-in tariffs for solar photovoltaics (solar PV) that ensure rapid development while minimizing cost to ratepayers. . .
- Request for Proposals, Bidding, & Tendering: Successful Policy Mechanisms or Multiple Paths to Failure?--While I've written extensively about feed-in tariffs as a policy mechanism for rapidly developing renewable energy, I've written very little about various forms of bidding systems. There's a reason I don't write about them. Long ago I concluded that bidding systems, in all their incarnations (Requests for Proposals, Tendering, Auctions, and so on), are not reliable mechanisms for developing renewable energy fairly and at a fair price. . .
- Feed-in Tariffs or Bidding: How Best to Assign Renewable Contracts--Toby Couture on Bidding and Tendering. The following is a guest post by renewable energy policy expert Toby Couture. The original article, Penny-foolish or Pound-wise: The Case of Renewable Electricity Policy, can be found on his web site. Couture has written extensively about feed-in tariffs and renewable energy policy, most recently for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the US. He is currently a graduate student at the London School of Economics. Couture's article is being posted now in light of the recent French decision to award contracts for rooftop solar PV projects greater than 250 kW by a "call for tender".
- Feed-in Tariffs Needed After Grid Parity another hard-hitting critique by Craig Morris--A few weeks ago, US solar market analyst Paula Mints published an article essentially arguing that solar is about to reach an "un-incentivized future." Don't hold your breath. . .
- George Soros: New Drivers of Green Growth--A third initiative concerns renewable-energy development. Well-designed feed-in tariff programs offer investors the transparency, longevity, and certainty that they seek _ and these incentives have backed approximately 75 percent of solar photovoltaic capacity and 45 percent of wind capacity built worldwide through 2008. . .
- Feed-in Tariffs for Energy Efficiency and Conservation (Energy Saving)--While feed-in tariffs are most often associated with the generation and sale of electricity produced by generators using renewable sources of energy, they can also be used to pay for renewable heat and for energy efficiency and conservation. . .
- Deutsche Bank: FiTs Adjust while Delivering Scale in 2010--Feed-in tariffs (FiTs) continue to be the driving force behind many renewable energy deployments globally, and are an effective policy tool for catalyzing the large investment flows needed to achieve 2020 emissions reduction targets and clean energy mandates. . .
- The Next Wave: Feed-in Tariffs for Green or Renewable Heat--The focus of renewable industry analysts is typically on wind and solar electricity generation with occasional consideration of biogas and biomass generation. Few have considered the significant potential of renewable heat and how the principle behind feed-in tariffs can be applied to renewable or "green" heat. . .
- Fabulous feed in tariffs by David Jacobs--First, a clarification of what a feed-in tariff is – and what it is not. This policy instrument has become so successful and popular that policy makers sometimes claim to have established a feed-in tariff even though this is not the case. . .
- Steven Hill: US Could Learn Plenty from European Energy Policy--With toxic black ooze spreading throughout the Gulf of Mexico, it is time for the Obama administration to think seriously about national energy policy. It could learn plenty by looking across the Atlantic to Europe. . .
- FITs Are Not Only for Solar--Another insightful critique by Craig Morris on sloppy commentary about feed-in tariffs as though FITs only benefit solar PV.
- ISES Calls for Feed-in Tariffs Worldwide--The International Solar Energy Society (ISES) has called for the use of feed-in tariffs worldwide at its world congress in Johannesburg, South Africa. This is the strongest endorsement yet from ISES of the policy that has sparked renewable energy development in Europe.
- Prices for Renewable Energies in Europe by Doerte Fouquet, European Renewable Energy Federation (a 2009 extensive survey of feed-in tariffs in Europe)
- UN's Economic Department Suggests Feed-in Tariffs in Developing World--The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) issued a policy brief in August that called for new policies to address "Climate Change and the Energy Challenge" including feed-in tariffs. . .
- Rebuttal to Michigan Cooperative Association Attack on Feed-in Tariffs--another insightful critique by Craig Morris of il-informed and false analysis of German feed-in tariff policy. . .
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The Gospel of Green (of Hermannn Scheer) by The Fifth Estate, CBC (video)--Bob McKeown and a fifth estate team travel to Germany to meet Hermannn Scheer, called "Europe's Al Gore," a parliamentarian who is leading the way to increase Germany's reliance on renewable energy sources such as wind power and solar power. . .
- Payback Time--Edited video of Earth Report's broadcast on feed-in tariffs
- Renewables Global Status Report: Energy Transformation Continues Despite Economic Slowdown: 2009 Update by REN 21
- Promoting Renewable Energy Is Focus of New Agency by Diana Powers, New York Times (with commentary by Hermann Scheer on the role of feed-in tariffs)
- Evolution of Feed-in Tariffs--Feed-in tariffs are a generic description of a policy that pays a price, a "tariff", for the electricity generated by renewable sources of energy that is "fed" into or sold to the grid. . .
- States & Provinces Considering Feed-in Tariffs
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Tax Reform and Community Based Renewable Energy by John Farrell, ILSR--The federal tax credits for renewable energy have been a major barrier to widespread ownership of renewable energy. The production tax credit, for example, can only be taken against passive income, a type of income that very few of us actually earn. . .
- Hope for a Change: a documentary about how people and communities using Renewable Energy provides hope that we will achieve a sustainable future, includes interviews with David Suzuki, Hermann Scheer, Chris Turner, and others
- Allianced for Renewable Energy Launched: North American coalition promotes Renewable Energy Payments (REPs)
—the “World’s Most Effective Renewable Energy Policy”
- Renewable Energy in the U.S.: Sneaking in the Backdoor or Walking Through the Front? by Michael Hoexter, Ph.D. (A thoughtful but hard-hitting piece on how to more honestly and forthrightly support renewable energy development.)
- A Harmonized Feed-in System for the EU: Are We Ready to Seize the Opportunity? by Rainer Hinrichs-Rahlwes, BEE (June, 2008)
- International Solar Energy Society Calls for Feed-in Tariffs
- The Renewable Electron Economy XIV: Renewable Energy Finance and Feed In Tariffs by Michael Hoexter
- Why wind needs feed-in tariffs by Jérôme Guillet
- Solar Energy Study Tour to Germany and German Feed-in Tariff Policy: EcoMotion Network News Vol 11, Issue 8:
- Background on the Cost of Generation and the Chabot Profitability Index Method
- Supporting Solar Photovoltaic Electricity: An Argument for Feed-in Tariffs by the European Photovoltaics Industry Association
- Josef Pesch's Brief Review of Germany's Renewable Policy
- Renewable Tariffs at Progressive Blog Daily Kos
- Renewable Energy Policy Mechanisms by Paul Gipe(1.3mb pdf)
- Lectures by Paul Gipe on Renewable Energy Tariffs
- All Renewables and Renewables for All: Renewable Tariffs for North America by Paul Gipe
- Solar Without Limits: Breaking Free from Net Metering by Paul Gipe
- Feed-in Tariff News Group Forms
- The Irony of U.S. and UK Renewable Policies by Craig Morris
- Europe Has Found a Way to Make Solar Pay by Jeffrey Michel
- Energy, Ethics and Feed-in Tariffs
by Miguel Mendonça, World Future Council
- Interview with Paul Gipe on Feed-In Laws by Hassan Masum, Worldchanging.com
- North American Endorsements of Advanced Renewable Tariffs, Feed Laws, and Standard Offer Contracts
- Energy from Hot Air: Taking a close look at the U.S. & European renewable energy legacies by Craig Morris
- Gore Calls for Renewable Energy Tariffs
- The Debate over Fixed Price Incentives for Renewable Electricity in Europe and the United States
- British Academics Call for Feed Law
- The Use of Feed-In Tariffs To Set Fair Power Prices for Renewable Energy Producers by Mike Holly, Sorgo Fuels
- UPI: Germany model for U.S. market?
- Performance-Based Incentives or Renewable Tariffs for Photovoltaics in the USA (2006)
- British Conservatives Begin Discussion of Feed Law
- France Implements New Renewable Tariffs for Solar, Wind, and Biogas
- Solar Tariffs Spurring PV Growth in North America
- Canada's NDP Suggests Feed Law for Canadian Provinces
- The Power of Language: ARTs are not SOCs
- The Emergence of Renewable Energy Tariff Policies in North America by Wilson Rickerson & Melinda Zytaruk
- Carbon Trust Calls for Urgent Changes to Britain's Renewable Obligation
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The Support of Electricity from Renewable Energy Sources by the European Commission
- European Photovoltaic Industry Association's Position Paper on Feed Laws for PV
- Could Canadians Pave the Way for Renewable Tariffs in North America?
- Renewable Energy Tariffs: Has Their Day Come?
- Renewable Energy Tariffs or Standard Offer Contracts: An Historical Time Line
- Trends Toward & Development of Renewable Energy Tariffs (Electricity Feed Laws) in North America
- Advanced Renewable Tariffs & Electricity Feed Laws
- European Union Policy on Support Schemes for Electricity from Renewable Energy Sources by Volkmar Lauber
- Documents on a Comparison Between Feed-in systems in Germany and Spain
- The spread of renewable energy feed-in tariffs (REFITs) in the EU-25 by Mischa Bechberger and Danyel Reiche, Free University of Berlin
- Electricity Feed Laws Power European Renewables
- Sierra Club (USA) Endorses Electricity Feed Law (2002)
- Renewable Energy Governance Systems by Frede Hvelplund, Aalborg Universitet
Feed-in Tariffs: The Economic Case
- Feed-in Tariffs Best to Deal with Climate Change Says IPCC Working Group III Renewables--The 135-page report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change , especially Chapter 11 on Policy, Financing and Implementation, makes it clear that the overwhelming weight of academic studies conclude that feed-in tariffs--or fixed-price mechanisms--perform better at delivering renewable energy quickly and equitably than quota systems, such as Renewable Portfolio Standards in the US or the Renewable Obligation in Britain. This is not the unsurprising conclusion from a surprising source: the IPCC's Working Group III on Renewables. . .
- ILSR: Why 'Market-based" is a Poor Criteria for Good Solar Policy--Many renewable energy advocates argue that the market for solar renewable energy credits (SRECs) is a more cost-effective tool for incentivizing solar power than a feed-in tariff (or CLEAN contract) set in a regulatory proceeding. . . Really? . .
- Over Cost of French Renewable Tariffs Negative in 2008--Flying in the face of conventional wisdom that renewables are expensive, the cost of French feed-in tariffs for renewable energy over and above the cost of conventional fuels was negative in 2008. . .
- Analytical Brief Volume 1, Issue 1, February 2010 by Toby Couture--Feed-in Tariffs (FITs) have come under fire of late, being criticized variously as “subsidies,” and “unfunded liabilities.” This Analytical Brief dispels a few common misconceptions
of what is now widely recognized as the most successful renewable energy (RE) policy, and suggests that analysts and economists take a closer look. The majority
of shots fired thus far have been wide of the mark. . .
- Basic Concepts for Designing Renewable Electricity Support Aiming at a Full-Scale Transition by 2050 by Aviel Verbruggen and Volkmar Lauber--Feed-in systems . . . generally perform better than certificate markets imposing uniform approaches on a very diverse reality. . .
- Deutsche Bank: Paying for Renewable Energy: TLC at the Right Price--Germany in particular stands out and is able to demonstrate many benefits that come with a strong volume response while being responsive to significant market developments. In a North American context, the province of Ontario has many features of a strong policy design. . .
- Spreadsheet Analysis of Feed-in Tariff Program Costs--Feed-in tariff advocates must develop some understanding of the possible monetary costs associated with the policy simply because of the questions that are invariably raised--justified or not. . .
- Background on and Publications of Bernard Chabot, Engineer
- The cost of wind, the price of wind, the value of wind by Jérôme Guillet--An excellent primer on why wind energy (and solar PV) needs feed-in tariffs. . .
- Going Green: Why Germany Has the Inside Track to Lead a New Industrial Revolution--Wharton Business School on the success of Germany's EEG. . .
- Development of Renewable Energies in France: What Contribution from the Carbon Market-- Cécile Bordier, Caisse des Dépôts, December 2008 (Report includes the overcost from the French system of Advanced Renewable Tariffs and compares the overcost to that in Great Britain.)
- Arne Kildegaard on the Merit Order Effect (Univ. of MN)
- The Merit Order Effect: A detailed analysis of the price effect of renewable electricity generation on spot market prices in Gemany by the Fraunhofer Institute (2007)
- EEG Cost Calculations methodologies: Extract from EEG Progress Report 2007, Chapter 15.1 (BMU)
- IEA: Feed-in Tariffs More Effective and Cheaper than Quotas for Renewable Energy--The International Energy Agency (IEA) has never been known as a hot bed of progressive thought--it has long been dismissive of renewable energy for example--or accurate oil price forecasts for that matter. It has been consistently wrong on both for years if not decades. But who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks. . .
- Advanced Tariff Systems for Rapid Uptake of Renewable Energy and the French Experience by Bernard Chabot (pdf)
- Ernst & Young Find Feed-in Tariffs Cheaper Than Trading System--The international accounting firm, Ernst & Young, has concluded that Germany's system of feed-in tariffs delivers more renewable energy at lower cost to consumers than Britain's Renewable Obligation and its certificate trading system. . .
- Certificate Trading and Feed-in Tariffs by Volkmar Lauber (2008)
- Making the UK Renewables Programme FITTER by David Toke for the World Future Council (2007)
- Britain's Stern Report Says Feed Laws Work Best for Renewable Energy
- Prices for Renewable Energy in Europe: Feed in tariffs versus Quota Systems – a comparison by the European Renewable Energy Federation (2006-2007)
- Minimum price system compared with the Quota Model by BWE
- Comparison of Minimum-Price and Quota Systems and an Analysis of Market Conditions by the European Renewable Energies Federation and Worldwatch Institute 2005
- Are Green Electricity Certificates the Way Forward asks David Toke, University of Birmingham
- Comparison of Feed in Tariff, Quota and Auction Mechanisms to Support Wind Power Development by Lucy Butler and Karsten Neuhoff, University of Cambridge--A Review
- Effectiveness through Risk Reduction: A Comparison of the Renewable Obligation in England and Wales and the Feed-In System in Germany by Catherine Mitchell, University of Warwick
- Renewable Energy: Political Prices or Political Quotas by Frede Hvelplund, Aalborg Universitet
- Political Prices or Political Quantities: A Comparison of Political Support Systems by Frede Hvelplund, Aalborg Universitet
- The Economic Transition to Renewable Energy by Dan Ihara, Center for Environmental Economic Development (CEED)
Debunking Myths about Feed-in Tariffs
- Wuppertal Institute: Economic Success of Renewable Energy in Germany--Brief Analysis on the Current Debate about Costs and Benefits of Expanding the Use of Renewable Energies in Electricity Generation (Wuppertal's English-language rebuttal to right-wing, think tank attack on German renewable energy) . . .
- Michael Eckhart, ACORE, on the RWI "study" of German FITs--So, they figure, if they are to justify coal and nuclear, they must first discredit the FIT. . .
- What solar will cost in Germany by Craig Morris--The RWI study is therefore roughly 50 percent off the mark according to her calculation, i.e. solar is not that expensive. . .
- Böll Foundation Takes on Right-Wing Think Tank: Get the Facts Right: Germany has seen a Boom in Green Jobs--The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) has recently published a new report: The Myth of Green Jobs - The European Experience. It claims that clean energy technologies increase energy prices and don’t lead to a net job growth in Europe. Given the German experience, Arne Jungjohann argues, AEI’s report has several flaws. . .
- NREL Response to the Report
Study of the Effects on Employment of Public Aid to Renewable Energy Sources from King Juan Carlos University
(Spain)
- Snow Job: The nefarious net-effect argument--Recent conservative studies on clean energy jobs miss the mark by Craig Morris in Grist
- Are renewables job killers?--A Spanish study found that the money invested in renewables would create more than twice as many jobs elsewhere on the market. Major media in the U.S. and the UK quickly reported the findings. PV magazine asked economists to assess the study, which previously had not been peer-reviewed. . .
Books on Feed-in Tariffs
- Powering the Green Economy: The Feed-in Tariff Handbook by Miguel Mendonça, David Jacobs, and Benjamin Sovacool--This book, from authors who have spent years working on feed-in tariff design and advocacy, provides a broad and detailed resource on feed-in tariffs and other renewable energy support mechanisms. It shares many lessons on good and bad design and implementation, as well as discussing the challenges faced by policy, and renewable energy in general.
- Feed-in Tariffs by Miguel Mendonça--a Review--Miguel Mendonça's Feed-in Tariffs takes his place alongside Craig Morris' Energy Switch in explaining the success of Feed-In Tariffs to English speakers. . .
- Energy Switch: Proven Solutions for a Renewable Future--Finally someone who can explain Germany's phenomenal success with renewable energy to North American readers. . .
- Switching to Renewable Power by Volkmar Lauber--Volkmar Lauber is one of the world's pre-eminent academics specializing in renewable energy policy. . . Lauber edits this collection of essays on renewable energy policy and fortunately several of his pieces on German policy and electricity feed laws are included. . .
Links to More on Feed-in Tariffs
North American Experts on Feed-in Tariffs
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