The long-awaited domestic program „Renewable Heat Incentive” (RHI) was officially launched on April 9, 2014, by the Department of Energy and Climate (DECC) in the United Kingdom.
The scheme aims to increase the use of renewable heating sources by offering homeowners financial support for installing lower-carbon systems in their homes. The technological systems currently covered by the program include biomass heating (pellets, wood chips, peat, etc.), water and ground-source heat pumps, air-source heat pumps, and solar thermal systems.
The Minister of Energy, Greg Barker, said in an interview for HVP: „Not only will we help people have warmer homes and lower heating bills, but they will also be able to reduce the carbon emissions of their homes and get their money back by installing new, more efficient equipment. This also opens up the market for the entire supply chain of these systems – engineers, installers, and companies – which will increase employment and revenues in this sector, and this is part of the United Kingdom’s long-term economic plan.”
Technology tariffs
Every homeowner will have the opportunity to choose only one heating system from those funded – a pellet boiler, solar systems, or heat pumps.
The government-guaranteed payments under this initiative will be made quarterly for the next 7 years. The scheme applies to England, Wales, and Scotland (Northern Ireland has its own scheme). The initiative was created to reduce the financial gap between current conventional systems and systems using renewable energy.
The Renewable Energy Association (REA) has already prepared for the program and stated that its introduction could bring great success for the sector in 2014. Mike Landy, the association’s chairman, also said: „The Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive has been set as a government priority in their green agenda for 2014. This means that renewable energy sources for home heating will not only be environmentally friendly, but also financially attractive.”
Source: Hvpmag.co.uk. 2014. Domestic RHI launched – HVP: Heating, Ventilating & Plumbing. Available at this link.
