4National targets for microgenerationE+W+S
(1)The Secretary of State must, during the period beginning with 1st November 2008 and ending with 31st March 2009—
(a)designate one or more national microgeneration targets, and
(b)publish a statement of that fact together with a copy of the target or targets.
(2)But subsection (1) does not apply unless on 1st November 2008 the Secretary of State considers that it would be appropriate to designate one or more targets under that subsection.
(3)For the purposes of this section, a national microgeneration target is a target in respect of—
(a)the number of microgeneration systems installed in England and Wales, and
(b)the number of electricity microgenerating systems installed in Scotland,
as at a date specified in the target (“the target date”).
(4)The matters to which the Secretary of State must have regard in determining whether subsection (1) applies include, in particular—
(a)the number of microgeneration systems installed in England and Wales,
(b)the number of electricity microgenerating systems installed in Scotland,
(c)the strategy published under section 82 of the Energy Act 2004 (c. 20) (microgeneration), and
(d)the results of any research carried out into the effect that designating a target under subsection (1) could be expected to have on the number of microgeneration systems that are installed in England and Wales, and the number of electricity microgenerating systems that are installed in Scotland, by the target date.
(5)If a target is designated under subsection (1), the Secretary of State must take reasonable steps to secure that the target is met.
(6)If the Secretary of State does not designate a target under subsection (1) he shall publish forthwith a statement of his reasons.
(7)At any time before the target date, the Secretary of State may review a target and, if he considers it appropriate to do so, revise the target.
(8)If under subsection (7) the Secretary of State revises a target—
(a)he must publish a statement of that fact together with a copy of the revised target, and
(b)the revised target is treated for the purposes of subsection (5) and section 5 as a target designated under subsection (1) (in place of the target which has been revised).
(9)In this section—
“electricity microgenerating system” means a microgeneration system for generating electricity;
“microgeneration system” means any plant or system of plant for generating electricity or producing heat—
(a)which, in generating electricity or (as the case may be) producing heat, relies wholly or mainly on a source of energy or a technology mentioned in subsection (7) of section 82 of the Energy Act 2004 (c. 20), and
(b)whose capacity to generate electricity or (as the case may be) to produce heat does not exceed the capacity mentioned in subsection (8) of that section;
“plant” includes any equipment, apparatus or appliance.