Guide To Renewable Heat Incentives

The good news is that homeowners, landlords and self-builders are entitled to financial support from the government’s Renewable Heat Incentives scheme. This scheme is part of the government’s commitment to making 15% of all energy consumed in the UK renewable by 2020.

What all this means in practice is that owners of renewable heating systems will receive quarterly payments over a 7 year period for the green energy that’s being made, as long as their properties meet certain eligibility requirements. This scheme is essentially a follow up to a similar one launched in 2012 designed to reward commercial organisations for using green energy.

The payments will be given even to recipients of the Renewable Heat Premium Payment, provided that this is declared when they apply. The amount awarded to you under this scheme will then be deducted from future Renewable Heat Incentive payments, to prevent you from being paid for the same installation twice. The renewable technologies covered by the scheme include biomass boilers as well as biomass pellet stoves with back boilers, and Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHP). Other technologies covered include Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHP)and solar thermal panels.

Before you can apply for the payments from RHI, you need to ensure that the renewable system installed is certified eligible by MCS. Once this is verified, you’ll also need a Green Deal Assessment of your home, which will check for energy efficiency measures such as loft insulation and cavity wall insulation. If the assessment recommends these measures in your home, they will have to be installed in order to qualify for the scheme.

Depending on the type of renewable heating system installed, you will be eligible for the following levels of payment (the figures given are in pennies):

• ASHP 7.3 per kilowatt hour
• Biomass 12.2 per kilowatt hour
• GSHP 18.8 per kilowatt hour
• Solar Thermal 19.2 per kilowatt hour

These payments are linked to the Retail Prices Index and will be reviewed every year. Based on those figures, owners of an average home with a biomass renewable boiler could be entitled to an annual payment of around £1830. To apply for the scheme this year, you will need to visit OFGEM’s website and fill in a short questionnaire regarding your eligibility for the scheme. For quality control purposes, your system may be audited after installation to check it’s still meeting OFGEM criteria.