An event on North Dock on Friday the 12th February highlighted the potential of new Feed-in tariffs to encourage green innovation. Announced by Government last October, the tariffs encourage the adoption of renewable energy sources by allowing individuals to ‘feed-back’ power they have generated into the public grid.
Inventor Rupert Sweet-Escott, Nia Griffith MP and Adrian Matthews with the SET.
Similar schemes are already in place in almost 70 countries and in Germany are credited with boosting sales of solar panels and wind generators to individuals who can not only generate their own electricity, but who are also paid by power companies for the energy generated by their equipment.
Nia Griffith, Llanelli MP has been an advocating for the introduction of microgeneration and the new Feed-in tariffs in Westminster which are expected to take effect as early as April 2010.
Nia says, “These tariffs will help local people who want to generate electricity and sell it back to the grid. They will ensure that people who install microgeneration equipment and generate more power than they can use, can not only feed that power back into the grid but that they are also paid fairly for their contribution. Furthermore, growing demand for ecologically sustainable developments in our area, means we can also benefit from the growth of green industries in Wales. I will continue to influence Government towards measures that have positive impact on both our environment and on our local economy.”
With the feed-in tariffs coming into effect, local businessman Adrian Matthews of Hick Street, Llanelli invited Nia and others to North Dock this afternoon to show off a new energy saving ‘chimney pot’ which he and inventor Rupert Sweet-Escott hope will be approved for the UK’s new microgeneration scheme.
The ‘chimney pot’ or Secret Energy Turbine (SET) is a small wind turbine disguised as a chimney pot that utilises wind power to generate electricity. Now Matthews is hoping that government grants for microgeneration equipment and the new feed-in tariff will encourage investment in the Secret Energy Turbine . The ex-army combat engineer is in charge of UK marketing for The Green Brand a company whose owner recently appeared, along with the SET, on BBC 2’s Dragons Den.
Now Matthews and SET inventor Rupert Sweet-Escott are working to locate the first new UK manufacturing plant for SET technology in the South Wales area. Matthews says of Sweet-Escott, “he’s not Welsh, but his heart is in Wales.”