Sun, Wind and Water
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Tariff-related definitions
Tariffs
Tariffs are the rates paid for commodities like electricity. An electricity tariff is the price paid per kilowatt-hour of electricity either consumed or generated. The term is commonly used in the electric utility industry in North America and Europe.
Feed-in Tariffs
Feed-in tariffs are payments, or tariffs, for renewably-generated electricity. They are paid to the producers for every kilowatt-hour of electricity they generate. The term “feed-in tariff” is a literal translation from Germany’s 1991 Stromeinspeisungsgesetz (StrEG), the law on feeding electricity into the grid.
Simple Feed-in Tariffs
Ontario and California have implemented simple feed-in tariffs. In Ontario;s Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program ("RESOP", 2007 & 2008) there was just one tariff for solar-generated electricity, and one tariff for everything else. Both jurisdictions are in the process of moving their programs toward full systems of differentiated feed-in tariffs like those used in Europe.
Advanced Renewable tariffs (also called "Differentiated Tarriffs" or simply “renewable tariffs”)
Germany, France, and Spain use a sophisticated system of tariffs, sometimes called Advanced Renewable Tariffs, that pay different prices per kilowatt-hour for different technologies, projects of different size, different applications, and different resource intensities. Sometimes "Feed-in Tariffs" and "Advanced Renewable Tariffs" are shortened simply to “renewable tariffs.”
Subsidies
A subsidy is defined as "a grant or gift of money from a government to a private company, organization, or charity to help it to function". Typically, subsidies are up-front payments given to assist with business or project development by reducing the purchase price of major asset purchases like solar panels or wind turbines.
Feed-in tariffs are quite different from subsidies. Subsidies for generation equipment, for instance, are not strictly tied to power generation, while feed-in tariffs are only paid when energy is produced, so they are in fact completely results-oriented. As well, subsidies are paid by governments (on behalf of tax payers), while tariffs of any sort are paid for by by the electrical market (on behalf of electricity rate payers, electrical consumers).
Tariffs
Tariffs are the rates paid for commodities like electricity. An electricity tariff is the price paid per kilowatt-hour of electricity either consumed or generated. The term is commonly used in the electric utility industry in North America and Europe.
Feed-in Tariffs
Feed-in tariffs are payments, or tariffs, for renewably-generated electricity. They are paid to the producers for every kilowatt-hour of electricity they generate. The term “feed-in tariff” is a literal translation from Germany’s 1991 Stromeinspeisungsgesetz (StrEG), the law on feeding electricity into the grid.
Simple Feed-in Tariffs
Ontario and California have implemented simple feed-in tariffs. In Ontario;s Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program ("RESOP", 2007 & 2008) there was just one tariff for solar-generated electricity, and one tariff for everything else. Both jurisdictions are in the process of moving their programs toward full systems of differentiated feed-in tariffs like those used in Europe.
Advanced Renewable tariffs (also called "Differentiated Tarriffs" or simply “renewable tariffs”)
Germany, France, and Spain use a sophisticated system of tariffs, sometimes called Advanced Renewable Tariffs, that pay different prices per kilowatt-hour for different technologies, projects of different size, different applications, and different resource intensities. Sometimes "Feed-in Tariffs" and "Advanced Renewable Tariffs" are shortened simply to “renewable tariffs.”
Subsidies
A subsidy is defined as "a grant or gift of money from a government to a private company, organization, or charity to help it to function". Typically, subsidies are up-front payments given to assist with business or project development by reducing the purchase price of major asset purchases like solar panels or wind turbines.
Feed-in tariffs are quite different from subsidies. Subsidies for generation equipment, for instance, are not strictly tied to power generation, while feed-in tariffs are only paid when energy is produced, so they are in fact completely results-oriented. As well, subsidies are paid by governments (on behalf of tax payers), while tariffs of any sort are paid for by by the electrical market (on behalf of electricity rate payers, electrical consumers).