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Renewable Heat Incentive tariffs have changed over the years

RHI Tariff History

Commercial RHI Tariff for GSHP doubled from May 2014

DECC published its Tariff Review in May 2013 to propose a doubling of GSHP tariffs. This was designed to boost the GSHP market as the number of smaller GSHP commercial installations was only 1% of the number that DECC had anticipated and almost all of the RHI payments were being made to biomass boilers. The increased rates were eventually confirmed by DECC in December 2013 and acknowledged by Ofgem on 28 May 2014.

The RHI tariff table below shows the main technologies eligible for commercial RHI and the subsidy received for new accreditations for each technology. The tariffs are based on pence/kWh of renewable heat delivered from the date of accreditation with Ofgem.

RHI
over
20 years
Scale in kW RHI
Nov 2011
RHI
Apr 2012
RHI
Apr 2013
RHI
Jul 2013
RHI
Apr 2014
RHI
Jul 2014
RHI
Oct 2014
RHI
Jan 2015
RHI
Apr 2015
RHI
Jul 2015
RHI
Oct 2015
RHI
Jan 2016
RHI
Apr 2016
RHI
Jul 2016
RHI
Oct 2016
RHI
Jan 2017
RHI
Apr 2017
RHI
Jul 2017
RHI
Oct 2017
RHI
Apr 2018
RHI
Apr 2019
RHI
Apr 2020
RHI
Jul 2020
Solar thermal up to 200 8.5 8.9 9.2 9.2 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.16 10.16 10.16 10.16 10.28 10.28 10.28 10.28 10.44 10.44 10.44 10.75 10.98 11.12 11.12
GSHP up to 100 4.5 4.7 4.8 4.8 8.7 8.7 8.7 8.7 8.84 8.84 8.84 8.84 8.95 8.95 8.95 8.95 9.09 9.09 9.09 9.36 9.56 9.68 9.68
GSHP over 100 3.2 3.4 3.5 3.5 8.7 8.7 8.7 8.7 8.84 8.84 8.84 8.84 8.95 8.95 8.95 8.95 9.09 9.09 9.09 9.36 9.56 8.72 6.98
ASHP 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.54 2.54 2.54 2.54 2.57 2.57 2.57 2.57 2.61 2.61 2.61 2.69 2.75 2.79 2.79
Biomass up to 200 7.9 8.3 8.6 8.6 8.8 8.4 7.6 6.8 5.87 4.40 4.18 3.76 3.62 3.26 3.10 3.00 2.85 2.71 2.96 3.05 3.11 3.15 3.15
Biomass 200-1,000 4.9 5.1 5.3 5.0 5.1 5.1 5.1 5.1 5.18 5.18 5.18 5.18 5.24 5.24 5.24 5.32 5.32 4.79 2.96 3.05 3.11 3.15 3.15
Biomass >1,000 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.03 2.03 2.03 2.03 2.05 2.05 2.05 2.08 2.08 2.08 2.96 3.05 3.11 3.15 3.15

RHI rates published by Ofgem – rates change with inflation each year on 1 April.

Rates for RHI have "degressed" (as shown above) for new installations after the dates shown.

 

Renewable Heat Incentive – Domestic – paid over 7 years

RHI Domestic Tariff History

RHI for domestic buildings applied from 9 April 2014 when the Domestic RHI started. Renewable heat installations commissioned since 15 July 2009 can receive RHI of around 19 pence per kilowatt hour used – for the first seven years of the equipment used.

The RHI tariff table below shows the technologies that are eligible for domestic RHI and the rate for each technology. The RHI provides a major incentive for owners to invest in ground source heat pumps and solar thermal renewable heat technologies. The tariffs are based on pence/kWh of renewable heat delivered. The rates vary with the technology used as follows:

Renewable Heat Incentive
Domestic
for 7 years
RHI tariffs
p/kWh
from Apr14
RHI tariffs
p/kWh
from Jan15
RHI tariffs
p/kWh
from Apr15
RHI tariffs
p/kWh
from Jul15
RHI tariffs
p/kWh
from Oct15
RHI tariffs
p/kWh
from Jan16
RHI tariffs
p/kWh
from Apr16
RHI tariffs
p/kWh
from Jul16
RHI tariffs
p/kWh
from Jan17
RHI tariffs
p/kWh
from Apr17
RHI tariffs
p/kWh
from Jul17
RHI tariffs
p/kWh
from Oct17
RHI tariffs
p/kWh
from Apr18
RHI tariffs
p/kWh
from Apr19
RHI tariffs
p/kWh
from Apr20
Solar thermal 19.2 19.2 19.51 19.51 19.51 19.51 19.74 19.74 19.74 20.06 20.06 20.06 20.66 21.09 21.36
GSHP 18.80 18.80 19.10 19.10 19.10 19.10 19.33 19.33 19.55 19.86 19.86 19.86 20.46 20.89 21.16
ASHP   7.3   7.3 7.42 7.42 7.42 7.42 7.51 7.51 7.51 7.63 7.63 10.18 10.49 10.71 10.85
Biomass 12.2 10.98  8.93  7.14  6.43  5.14  5.20  4.68  4.21  4.28  3.85  6.54  6.74  6.88  6.97

To receive RHI for a domestic building, each system must be installed by an MCS certified installer.

Each domestic building must show an Energy Performance Certificate to evidence its energy use.

Rates for biomass have "degressed" (as shown above) for new installations after the dates shown.

RHI Tax free income

Tariffs are exempt from income tax. This means that domestic users and other income tax payers will not be taxed on any income received from the Feed-In Tariffs or the Renewable Heat Incentive.

For those using Interseasonal Heat Transfer, the annual clean energy cashback for heating will normally be larger than the annual running cost.

 

See also:   Banking on IHT       The Merton Rule     Ground Source Energy     Economic Renewable Energy