A Policymaker's Guide to Feed-in Tariff Policy Design

"Feed-in tariffs (FITs) are the most widely used renewable energy policy in the world" says a massive report by a team of researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

At 144 pages, the report--A Policymaker's Guide to Feed-in Tariff Policy Design--is certainly the longest report any US government agency has ever published on feed-in tariffs, the policy known for the dramatic growth of renewable energy in Europe during the past decade. The report's internal governmental and external peer review alone took more than a year.

Abstract:

Feed-in tariffs (FITs) are the most widely used renewable energy policy in the world for driving accelerating renewable energy (RE) deployment, accounting for a greater share of RE development than either tax incentives or renewable portfolio standard (RPS) policies. FITs have generated significant RE deployment, helping bring the countries that have implemented them successfully to the forefront of the global RE industry. In the European Union (EU), FIT policies have led to the deployment of more than 15,000 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) power and more than 55,000 MW of wind power between 2000 and the end of 2009. In total, FITs are responsible for approximately 75% of global PV and 45% of global wind deployment. Countries such as Germany, in particular, have demonstrated that FITs can be used as a powerful policy tool to drive RE deployment and help meet combined energy security and emissions reductions objectives. This policymaker’s guide provides a detailed analysis of FIT policy design and implementation and identifies a set of best practices that have been effective at quickly stimulating the deployment of large amounts of RE generation.