"We need to accelerate drastically the pace of the switch to renewables", Greg Barker
Installations supplying a single domestic premise will not be able to apply for the full Renewable Heat Incentive – RHI – until 2014.
In the meantime, DECC has extended the Renewable Heat Premium Payment (RHPP) for domestic renewable heat generators. This very limited scheme (only £12m available in Phase 1) is to provide householders, whose homes are not heated by mains gas, with a one-off payment towards the cost of installing an eligible renewable heat technology:
| RHPP |
up to 31 March 2012 | up to 31 March 2013 |
| Ground Source Heat Pump | £1,250 | £1,250 |
| Air Source Heat Pump | £850 | £850 |
| Biomass | £950 | £950 |
| Solar Thermal | £300 | £300 |
The RHPP is administered by Energy Savings Trust. Owners of renewable heat technologies included apply to EST who will pay the RHPP, as a single payment.
Owners will need to complete two surveys.
Installers and the installed equipment will need to be MCS certified, or equivalent.
The first Phase of the RHPP was seen as a stop gap, with limited time for implementation. In practice only £4.8m of the small allocation of £12m was allocated by 31 March 2012. Therefore in the last days of March DECC announced an extension to RRHP, RRHP Phase 2. Although RHPP failed to make an impact, as the amounts on offer for each home were small, the amounts in Phase 2 are just the same. Although £12m was originally offered for households in Phase 1, in Phase 2 the amount has been limited to £7m.
DECC are also offering £8m in a competition for community energy schemes and £10m for social landlords.
The second Phase of the RHPP was also seen as a stop gap, with limited time for implementation. Therefore in the last days of March 2013 DECC announced an extension to RRHP, RRHP Phase 3 to run until 31 March 2014.
RHPP is exempt from income tax.
For details of the full Domestic RHI scheme, which is due to be introduced for domestic properties in spring 2014,see: Renewable Heat Incentive
See also: Banking on IHT The Merton Rule Ground Source Energy Economic Renewable Energy
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