Renewable Heat Incentive
The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) is a government programme similar to the Feed in Tariff, designed to promote installation of renewable heating systems. Below are some of the most common questions.
If you would like to know more, call 01293 821345, or see our online contact form and a member of our team will get in touch as soon as possible.
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The RHI is a pioneering government scheme to provide long term support for renewable heat technologies, from household solar thermal panels to heat pumps and industrial wood pellet boilers.
The RHI represents over £850m of investment over the spending review period, with the intention of shifting renewable heat from a fringe industry firmly into the mainstream.
The scheme will make payments to both commercial and domestic properties installing renewable heat technologies that qualify for support, year on year, for a fixed period of time. It is designed to cover the difference in cost between conventional fossil fuel heating and renewable heating systems (which are currently more expensive), plus an additional rate of return on top.
The RHI is being launched in September 2011 for commercial properties and October 2012 for domestic properties. However, there is also going to be a Renewable Heat Premium Payment for some domestic installs that will launch before October 2012.
Leaflets have been produced detailing the Renewable Heat Incentive and the Renewable Heating Premium Payment scheme. For more information, call isoenergy on 01293 821345 and we'll be happy to help.
The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) will be launched for commercial properties in Spetember 2011.
The RHI will be launched for domestic properties in October 2012.
The Renewable Heating Premium Payment scheme is being launched soon to bridge the gap up to the launch of the RHI.
We will update this FAQ as well as our news section as more information is released.
The announced eligible technology for commercial sites are as follows:
- Solid Biomass systems
- Ground Source Heat Pumps (powered by ground collectors, bodies of water and boreholes)
- Solar Thermal systems
- Biomethane Injection Biomass systems
Air Source Heat Pumps are excluded, however, they are eligiable for the Renweable Heat Premium Payment, which is designed to incentivise ASHP technology and assist with equipment and installation costs.
Our news and FAQ sections will continually be updated as soon as more information is released.
Below is a table of the announced rates for the commercial sector, launching in September 2011.
| Technology Installed |
Size of System |
Price paid per kilowatt hour (kW/h) |
Duration of payments |
Small Solid Biomass
|
Less than 200kW
|
Tier 1: 7.6p Tier 2: 2p
|
20 years |
Medium Solid Biomass
|
200-1000kW |
Tier 1: 4.9p Tier 2: 2p |
20 years |
Large Biomass
|
1000kW and above |
2.7p |
20 years |
|
Small Ground Source
Heat Pump
|
Less than 100kW
|
4.5p |
20 years |
|
Large Ground Source
Heat Pump
|
100kW and above
|
3.2p |
20 years |
|
Solar Thermal
Systems
|
Less than 200kW
|
8.5p |
20 years |
All systems will be metred. If the installation is deemed "simple" it will be metered once. If the system is deemed "complex", more meters will be required. This means high quality systems, like isoenergy's, will far outweigh the return on cheaper, less efficient, systems.
For more information, see the Renewable Heat Incentive Guide.
Ofgem are the body in charge of distributing the RHI funding. Their process is explained below:
In order for the system to qualify, it must be owned by you and be installed by an MCS accredited installer. Isoenergy is already fully MCS accredited for heat pumps and solar, and installs technology with stellar Coefficients of Performance (the amount of kWs of heating/hot water produced vs the amount of power used to run the systems), so we are perfectly positioned to provide RHI eligible systems.
For more information, call 01293 821345, or see the accompanying RHI Leaflet.
Eligibility
- The scheme starts 1 August and closes 31 March 2012
- Solar thermal is available to any householder. Other technologies are only available for households not currently using gas heating
- Householders in England, Scotland and Wales can apply. They must certify that this is their main home and that they have basic energy efficiency measures in place (loft insulation to 250mm and cavity wall insulation, where appropriate)
- Both the product and installer must be MCS (we think this also means ‘or equivalent’, but the press release is unclear)
- Recipients of the payments will be eligible for RHI, assuming they meet the other conditions of the RHI. There are no details of these conditions on the press release
Payments
- Payments are at the same rates as those previously published (£300 solar thermal, £950 biomass boilers, £850 air source heat pumps, £1250 ground source heat pumps)
- Once registered, householders receive a voucher for the relevant amount. They must install the kit within 3 months for solar thermal and 6 months for all the others. Installations must have been completed by 31 March 2012
Feedback Information
- Participants must complete 2 surveys
- Some households will also be selected at random to provide further information via meter installations. Agreeing to this if selected is a condition of the scheme – the meters will be installed free of charge
The above information is also covered in the Renewable Heating Premium Payment leaflet.
