Renewable Heat Incentive goes live
28.11.2011
The long-awaited Renewable Heat Incentive has finally gone live today
Businesses can now apply to receive a fixed rate payment from the government for heat they produce using a renewable heat system, such as solar thermal panels, heat pumps or a biomass boiler.
The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) is the first financial support scheme for renewable heat in the world. Its launch suffered a two-month delay, after concern was raised by the European Commission over the originally-planned RHI tariff for large biomass boilers being too high.
The launch of the RHI means that businesses can now apply for:
- Preliminary Accreditation - to be sure that a new renewable heating project is eligible for the RHI before committing to the investment (note that only biomass boilers >200 kW, geothermal heat and biogas can apply for Preliminary Accreditation)
or
- Final Accreditation – for any existing renewable heating installations that meet the qualifying criteria.
There will no doubt be a rush of applications in the first few weeks of its go-live, and OFGEM may struggle to meet the "four to six weeks' processing time" they have quoted - especially as the RHI is a world first and there will no doubt be some ‘grey areas’ that require clarification.
Find out more about the Renewable Heat Incentive.