Renewable Heat Incentive scheme From The Uk Government

The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme is a government initiative similar to the feed in tariff (FIT) scheme and is designed to encourage more people to use renewable energy (solar hot water, air source heat pumps, ground source heat pumps and biomass).

The scheme was announced in March 2011 for payments to those with renewable heat installations including solar thermal.

The scheme is set to start in October 2012 for domestic properties and is currently running commercial installations. However there is a £300 grant available right now up until March 2012 of £300 for people who install solar thermal before that date. This is called the Renewable Heat Premium Payment (RHPP) and if approved you are eligible to apply for the RHI payments once they start.

The government has around £15 million to pay out in Renewable Heat Premium Payments, and once this is gone the RHPP will close so if you are thinking of installing a solar thermal system it is worth applying now. One of advisers can help you with this.

Insulation - Minimum Energy Efficiency Criteria

As with any renewable energy technology, in order to maximise the benefits and returns you should always aim to make your building energy efficient with insulation, use low energy light bulbs and monitor your energy usage and implement a good energy usage regime. Our energy consultants can help advise on ways to be more energy efficient. Since the deemed level of output used to calculate RHI payments will be worked out on the assumption that the building meets a minimum level of energy efficiency, meeting this minimum level is one of the criteria for eligibility.

For domestic houses, the minimum requirements (as set out in the consultation document) are:

• at least 125mm of loft insulation.
• cavity wall filled where appropriate.

Some people say that this is too lenient and there is an expectation that this will be one of the areas that is changed before the renewable scheme goes live.

To claim the RHP or read more click link below:

To claim RHP

No tariffs have yet been published.

The original consultation document for the Renewable Heat Incentive, previously proposed tariff levels which may or may not be indicative of the final published tariff levels. The indicative tariffs are as below:

Please click to view the chart

The indicative tariffs are as follows:

Technology	Scale	Tariffs (p/kWth)	Tariff Lifetime (years)
Small Renewable Energy Installations
Solid Biomass	Up to 45kW	9	15
Biodiesel (restricted Use)	Up to 45kW	6.5	15
Biogas on-site Combustion	Up to 45kW	5.5	10
Ground Source Heat Pumps	Up to 45kW	7	23
Air Source Heat Pumps	Up to 45kW	7.5	18
Solar Thermal	Up to 20kW	18	20
Medium Renewable Energy Installations
Solid Biomass	45kW-500kW	6.5	15
Biogas on-site Combustion	45kW-200kW	5.5	10
Ground Source Heat Pumps	45kW-350kW	5.5	20
Air Source Heat Pumps	45kW-350kW	2	20
Solar Thermal	20kW-100kW	17	20
Large Renewable Energy Installations
Solid Biomass	500kW and above	1.6-2.5	15
Ground Source Heat Pumps	350kW and above	1.5	20
Biomethane Injection	All Scales	4	15

If you would like to speak to one of our renewable energy advisers then please get in touch with us or alternatively ping your roof and we will be able to advise on the best system for your property.

Tariffs For Commercial Renewable Installations

The first phase also includes 20 year tariff support for non-domestic renewable energy installs, aimed at the big heat users - the industrial, business and public sector - which contribute 38% of the UK's carbon emissions.

A generation renewable tariff will be paid for every kWh (kilowatt-hour of energy produced). The level of payment depends on the technology and the system size.

As with the Feed-In Tariff for Solar PV, the tariffs are inflation linked and go up with RPI.

All these renewable tariffs are fixed for a duration of 20 years.