The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) have recently announced the domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) tariff levels which have been set at;
– Solar thermal: 19.2 p/kWh (minimum)
– Ground source heat pumps: 18.8 p/kWh
– Biomass boilers: 12.2 p/kWh
– Air source heat pumps: 7.3 p/kWh
The DECC said that the solar thermal tariff would be a minimum of 19.2 p/kWh but could be higher depending on the outcome of an assessment of the marginal cost of renewable energy. A final announcement on this will be made in the autumn.
Investing for the long term in new renewable heat technologies will mean cleaner energy and cheaper bills. So the new tariffs are a big step forward in the drive to get innovative renewable heating installations in homes. Householders can now invest in a range of heating technologies knowing how much the tariff will be for the different renewable heat technologies and benefit from the clean green heat produced. The coalition is also sending out a message that they are committed to boosting and sustaining growth in this sector. The domestic RHI will available to anyone who installed renewable heat technology and meets the RHI eligibility criteria from 15 July 2009.
This will likely be a major boost for the solar thermal market. The value of this incentive is on a new level, with nothing like it anywhere in the world. From now on people can install solar heating with confidence that their system will be able to join the RHI scheme, and knowing what their payments will be worth. There is every reason to install now because a Renewable Heat Premium Payment (RHPP) grant of £600 is available in the run up to the launch. Although the value of this grant will be subtracted from the RHI payments, it will be taken over the course of the scheme, so householders installing between now and the start of the scheme will in effect be receiving their £600 early.
