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World's first renewable heat incentive
The government has launched the world’s first financial incentive to revolutionise the way heat is generated and used in buildings.
From July this year householders will be able to apply for payments to help cover the costs of green heating systems.
Premium payments for households
From July up to 25,000 household heating installations will be supported by a Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) Premium Payment. This will help people cover the purchase price of green heating systems such as solar hot water panels or large wood pellet boilers.
Those taking up the premium will then be eligible to get a RHI tariff when the Green Deal begins. The tariff will provide fixed annual payments to people who install renewable heating systems.
The Green Deal is a scheme to make homes (owned or rented) and businesses more energy efficient. The cost of the work would be funded from the savings on their energy bills. The scheme is due to start in October 2012.
The RHI Premium Payment will be worth around £15m and will be spread across a range of renewable technologies and to all regions of Great Britain.
Eligibility and priorities
Clear eligibility criteria for people wishing to qualify for a Premium Payment, will be published soon. These will include:
- the home being well insulated, based on its energy performance certificate
- the householder agreeing to give feedback on how the equipment performs
A key focus of this initial phase will be on people living off the gas grid, where fossil fuels like heating oil are both more expensive and have a higher carbon content.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) plans to publish details of the RHI Premium Payment in May this year. It will consult on the RHI tariffs that will apply from October 2012 later in the year.
Industry, commercial and public sector
The tariffs will be paid for 20 years to eligible technologies that have installed since 15 July 2009 with payments being made for each kWh of renewable heat produced.
Secretary of State, Chris Huhne said: “Renewable heat is a largely untapped resource and an important new green industry of the future.
“This incentive is the first of its kind in the world. It’ll help the UK shift away from fossil fuel, reducing carbon emissions and encouraging innovation, jobs and growth in new advanced technologies.”
Further details
Further details of the scheme can be found on the DECC website. Details of the RHI Premium Payment will be published in May.
