With the backdrop of Government cost saving measures and leadership that is seemingly steering away from wholeheartedly backing renewables, it is therefore rather unsurprising that DECC has been swallowed up into the rather more clumsily named Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
DECC was making some progress. The EU target for 15% of UK energy consumption to come from renewable sources in 2020 was going some way to being met. By the end of 2015, this figure was at 8.3%, up from the 7.1% at the end of the previous year. This progress was slow, but nevertheless progress was being made.
Since then, the tariff for solar PV has been cut and although money was put towards the Renewable Heat Incentive at the last budget, the Government’s disbandment of the one department that was meant to be promoting climate change points towards a less than enthusiastic attitude towards spending any more money on green energy.
Indeed, DECC’s lasting legacy may be the result of one of their last consultations. It suggests that there may be changes to the way that the RHI is to be administered, with talk of a tariff cap at 25,000 kWh for domestic properties - thereby immediately reducing the potential incentive for any medium-to-large size homes. If so, that would point to a driving down of costs, the outcome of which we know means the installation of cheaper, less reliable and less efficient systems.
Therefore, if you are considering the benefits of a ground or air source heat pump then it is likely that there will be no better time to install than now. You will currently get paid 19.33p/kWh for all the renewable energy that you generate over seven years with a ground source heat pump, and 7.51p/kWH for an air source heat pump. In plain terms, this means that the cost of installing a system is generally repaid over the lifetime of the subsidy, with many projects seeing a significant return on investment.
With the uncertainty surrounding the future direction of energy strategy and the availability of highly efficient renewable technology that has been well tried and tested, can you afford to remain in the fossil fuel age?
