Page type: primary-anchored (mirrors Feed-in Tariffs Order 2012, SI 2012/2782)

Feed-in Tariffs Order 2012

The FiT Order establishes the framework for small-scale renewable electricity support in GB. Installations up to 5 MW generating from solar PV, wind, hydro, anaerobic digestion, or micro-CHP receive generation and export tariffs paid by licensed suppliers, with costs shared across all suppliers via a levelisation fund.

The scheme was closed to new applications from 1 April 2019 (Art. 7A) but continues paying existing accredited generators for their full tariff period (typically 20-25 years).

Source file: sources/legislation/uk/si-2012-2782-fit.md

Accreditation

Generators apply to Ofgem for accreditation. The installation must use an eligible low-carbon energy source, be MCS-certified (sub-50 kW) or ROO-accredited, have grid connection, and meet the energy efficiency requirement where applicable (Art. 5).

Each accredited installation receives a tariff code (Art. 13) which determines its payment rate. Ofgem maintains the central FIT register (Art. 21).

Routes to accreditation: - Standard: apply after commissioning - Preliminary (Art. 9): apply before commissioning to lock in the tariff rate - Community energy pre-registration (Art. 11): protects rates during community development - School pre-registration (Art. 12): protects rates for school installations

Tariff structure

The Order works with Standard Licence Conditions 33 and 34, which contain the actual tariff tables and payment procedures. The Order provides the framework; the SLCs provide the rates.

Generators receive: - Generation tariff per kWh of electricity generated - Export tariff per kWh exported to the grid (or deemed at a set percentage for installations without export meters, per Art. 37)

Levelisation (Part 6)

FIT costs are shared proportionally across all licensed electricity suppliers based on their market share, not concentrated on the supplier whose customers happen to have FIT installations.

• The Authority maintains a levelisation fund (Art. 25)
• Annual levelisation calculates each supplier's net contribution (Art. 26)
• Periodic adjustments happen during the year (Art. 28)
• If a supplier defaults, costs are mutualised across remaining licensees (Art. 30A)

AD sustainability (Part 8A)

Anaerobic digestion installations face additional obligations: - Continuous sustainability criteria compliance (Art. 38C) - Quarterly sustainability declarations (Art. 38D) - Annual feedstock-type declarations (Art. 38F) - Annual independent audit report (Art. 38G) - Quarterly meter readings (Art. 38H) - Greenhouse gas criteria in Schedule 2A

Key values

Cross-references

Character positions

No character positions recorded yet.

Last updated: 2026-04-05