The government will this afternoon confirm its contingency plan should it lose its high-profile court battle to uphold proposed cuts to incentives for solar installations completed after December 12 last year.

BusinessGreen understands the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) will table a written ministerial statement providing further details on how it plans to reduce the level of feed-in tariff incentives for solar projects.

According to industry reports, the statement is expected to confirm that if the government loses its appeal against the court ruling that branded its proposed cuts to incentives as unlawful, it will cut feed-in tariffs for installations with under 4kW of capacity to 21p per kWh within 40 days, setting a new cut-off date of March 3.

It is also expected to confirm that should the government win its appeal it will not cut incentives for installations completed after December 12 last year below the proposed level of 21p per kWh.

The statement will provide some much-needed certainty to the solar market, providing official confirmation that the level of support for current installations will not fall below 21p per kWh regardless of the outcome of the government's appeal.

BusinessGreen reported yesterday that DECC had confirmed the 21p rate, but industry representatives have been pushing for an official ministerial statement confirming the government's plans. 

The statement is expected to only confirm rates through to the end of March, meaning that the government could attempt to impose deeper cuts to the level of subsidy from April if, as feared, the scheme remains on track to exceed its spending cap.

However, industry watchers suggested that with the government required to consult again on any further changes to the scheme post April it is unlikely that additional cuts to incentives could be imposed before early summer.

The move follows intense lobbying from solar firms angry about the uncertainty over the current level of support for new installations.

It also comes in response to calls from Friends of the Earth for the government to table legislation enabling it to cut feed-in tariffs as soon as possible should it lose the court case and be forced to reinstate the 43p per kWh incentive rate.

All sides in the debate on the future of feed-in tariffs are concerned about the potential impact on the scheme's budget of a return to the 43p per kWh rate that could result in a surge in new installations. Although supporters of the legal action taken against the government maintain they were right to bring the case given that otherwise ministers would have set a precedent allowing them to retrospectively impose cuts to incentives.

The judges currently deliberating whether or not to hear the government's appeal are thought to be unlikely to reach a decision this week, meaning that even if they reject the government's case there will only be a limited period when the higher rate of incentives is reinstated.

A spokeswoman for Friends of the Earth welcomed news of the statement, arguing that it provides some "much-needed certainty for the solar market".

"The next step is to now try and get a budget for the scheme that will allow that certainty and stability to continue in the future," she added.