PART 3Accreditation and matters relating to accreditation

CHAPTER 2Preliminary accreditation and pre-registration

Effect of preliminary accreditation

10.—(1) Paragraph (2) applies where—

(a)an installation has been granted preliminary accreditation; and

(b)during the period of validity of the preliminary accreditation—

(i)the installation is commissioned; and

(ii)the Authority receives an application for accreditation of the installation.

(2) The Authority must grant the accreditation if it is satisfied that the installation has been commissioned unless—

(a)article 7 applies;

(b)the installation which has been commissioned is materially different from the installation for which preliminary accreditation was granted;

(c)there has been a material change in circumstances since the preliminary accreditation was granted such that, had the application for preliminary accreditation been made after the change, it would have been refused;

(d)any condition attached to the preliminary accreditation has not been complied with;

(e)the information on which the decision to grant the preliminary accreditation was based was incorrect in a material particular such that, had the Authority known the true position when the application for preliminary accreditation was made, it would have been refused.

(3) If the Authority grants the application for accreditation pursuant to paragraph (2), the installation’s tariff date is—

(a)the date on which the Authority received the application for preliminary accreditation, if the Authority received it between 1st April and 31st December; or

(b)the 1st April following the date on which the Authority received the application for preliminary accreditation, if the Authority received it between 1st January and 31st March.

(4) For the purposes of this article, a commissioned installation is materially different from an installation for which preliminary accreditation was granted if—

(a)its site is different;

(b)it uses a different eligible low-carbon energy source;

(c)either—

(i)it does not have a grid connection, and the application for preliminary accreditation stated that it would have a grid connection; or

(ii)it has a grid connection, and the application for preliminary accreditation stated that it would not have a grid connection;

(d)its total installed capacity is greater; or

(e)its total installed capacity is less, such that electricity generated by the installation would be eligible for payment at a different generation tariff to that which would have been payable had the total installed capacity of the installation been as stated in the application for preliminary accreditation.