UK installed solar capacity reaches 8.6 GW in 2015: DECC

London (Platts)--28 Jan 2016 940 am EST/1440 GMT

* 2015 solar PV capacity increases 62% on year
* Sees 2% rise from November 2015


Overall solar photovoltaics installed capacity in the UK rose 62% on the year to 8,667 MW at the end of December 2015, bringing the total number of installations to 842,005, according to Department of Energy and Climate Change documents Thursday.

Installed capacity rose by 2%, or 167 MW, since the end of November, and added 3,319 MW, or 62%, in the past 12 months, the energy department said.

The total number of installations rose 3%, or 26,251, in December 2015, and was up by 29%, or 190,630, from end of December 2014.

An increase in solar PV capacity in the UK helped boost power generation by 73% in the third-quarter of 2015, DECC said.

Individually, capacity accredited under the Renewables Obligation was unchanged in November and December at 4,001 MW across 15,582 installations. This represents 46% of total solar capacity, and 2% of all installations.

Capacity eligible for Feed in Tariffs (FiTs) (ie, MCS, ROO-FIT and RO to FIT transfers) stood at 3,773 MW across 823,045 installations, with a near 5% growth seen under then MCS scheme.

This total deployed capacity under the FiTs scheme represents 44% of total solar capacity, and 98% of all installations, DECC said.

Other solar capacity rose 4.4% on month to 893 MW in December 2015, representing 10% of overall solar deployment.

--Anuradha Ramanathan, anuradha.ramanathan@platts.com
--Edited by Maurice Geller, maurice.geller@platts.com

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