The Heat Pump Association (HPA) has expressed uncertainty about funding changes for the non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive. In mid- June the DECC announced an upper limit of £70 million for 2012/2013 and a reduction in the notice period for the scheme to be suspended shortened from a month at 80% threshold to a week at 97% threshold.
The statement continues: ‘Hence reducing the funding from £108 million to £70 million and the notice period for the scheme suspension is like to have little effect than to further reduce confidence in the reliability of these incentives.’ The HPA expresses significant concern about the message conveyed by the DECC announcement, especially coming only a few weeks after a previous interim cost-control announcement following industry consultation.
Ofgem reports that 5.25 MW of total capacity was accredited to the RHI from the end of November 2011 to the end of March 2013, of which 2.8 MW was preliminary. During the period, total RHI payments of £9707 were made. The report suggests that the number of enquiries and applications being received are increasing on an exponential scale
Solid biomass boilers dominate the installed capacity of renewable heat -at 98%. Ground-source heat pumps are 1.5% and water source 0.5%. However, heat pumps make up 20% of accredited installations -implying they are much smaller than biomass.
