The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme is the first of its kind in the world. It will provide long term support for renewable heat technologies, from ground-source heat pumps to wood-chip boilers. The scheme will help drive around a seven-fold increase in renewable heat over the coming decade, which will help shift what currently is a fringe option, firmly into the mainstream.
The threats and challenges of climate change are clear and real. We must take action now to protect our environment. That’s why we have signed up to carbon reduction targets and have committed to reducing our emissions by at least 80 per cent by 2050. At the same time, with diminishing North Sea gas reserves, we are becoming increasingly reliant on foreign imports. We must therefore diversify our energy supply, by turning to alternative forms of energy and move away from traditional fossil fuels. Ensuring our energy supply is safe and reliable is vital for the security of the nation.
On 10 March 2011, the Government announced the details of the Renewable Heat Incentive policy to revolutionise the way heat is generated and used in buildings and homes. This is the first financial support scheme for renewable heat of its kind in the world.
RHI’s are going to be similar to Feed in Tarriffs, except that thers is no ‘national heating grid’ to feed back into. Once you install a renewable heating system, (heat pumps, biomass boilers, solar thermal water heaters) an estimate will be made about how much heat it will produce and you will be paid a fixed amount based on that estimate. Energy companies will pay for every unit of heat generated by a solar thermal system.
The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) policy document, sets out the detailed arrangements for this scheme, which will provide long-term financial support to renewable heat installations to encourage the uptake of renewable heat. The aim is for the regulations which underpin this scheme to be approved by Parliament in summer 2011 and the scheme will be introduced shortly thereafter.
