The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) Announcement

[EasyMCSLtd]

Hi Guys,

The DECC have just confirmed The Renewable Heat Incentive so thought this would be a good chance for everyone to throw any questions in.

The RHI is going to be available to commercial customers from July 2011 with Domestic users able to access it from October 2012. It appears the reasoning behind this is to allow the DECC to test the water with £15million of commercial jobs before hitting the much larger domestic market ie. they can work out all the kinks. Between July 2011 and October 2012 domestic users will be able to access and RHI Premium Payment which is basically a grant which looks like a half a years worth of The Renewable Heat Incentive and then can go onto the RHI once it comes in, in October 2012.

The RHI is also going to be backdated to installations of MCS Technologies by MCS Accredited Installers back to 15th July 2009.

“This incentive is the first of its kind in the world. It’ll help the UK shift away from fossil fuel, reducing carbon emissions and encouraging innovation, jobs and growth in new advanced technologies.”
(Secretary of State, Chris Huhne)

For further details on the RHI announcement see Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) Scheme - Department of Energy and Climate Change

It is now expected that the Renewable Heat market will explode in a similar way to the Renewable Electrical market on the back of the Feed In Tariffs.

If anyone has any questions on MCS Accreditation or eligibility as an Installer to offer the Renewable Heat Incentive please don't hesitate to get in touch.

 

[Energetic]

50% reduction in the solar thermal tariff???

 

[EasyMCSLtd]

Hi There,

Not sure what you mean the Solar Thermal tariff for domestic has not yet been confirmed but commercially is going to be 8.5p for 20 years.

Regards

 

[TomFromFife]

Will the RHI Premium Payment still be available to domestic installations where the government provided a grant for the installation in the first place?

 

[TedM]

I don't think so. Anyone who has received a grant has to pay it back to be eligible for the RHI proper - so I expect that applies to the RHPP as well.

So if someone got £400 from the LCBP for a solar thermal - they will have to pay it back in return for getting £300 in RHPP plus whatever amount from October 2012.

 

[SolarCity]

That's if it ever happens. I think the delaying of the RHI for domestic customers is just going to knock confidence in the market even further.

 

[claypole]

As a potential customer it's certainly knocked mine for six. Have persuaded myself (quite easily in the end) to go PV, and part of that decision making process was the way the FIT was set up to come via the suppliers and not directly from government funds - does that show a little lack of faith in government promises? Did the delayed RHI affect my eagerness to invest in SolarThermal? Did today's announcment almost right off any interest at all? Yes, yes and thrice yes. I'll now be looking to run the immersion of the pv and maybe using the remaining roof space for a pv extension next year (DNO permitting), unless the RHI news is considerably rosier in the future. I feel an enormous amount of sympathy for businesses that have already chosen to invest in Solar Thermal on the assumption that the domestic market was about to lift off.

 

[HotSpot]

So...the 'Greenest Government Ever' have now shown their true 'colours'!!! God help the PV market when it's reviewed next year!

 

[EasyMCSLtd]

Just picking up on what has been said. The RHIPP will be available from July onwards and isn't available for people who have already installed with an LCBP grant or not. These people and those who get the RHIPP will all be eligible for the RHI coming into place in October 2012. I think the reason behind holding back on the domestic side of the RHI is to prevent big problems in the initial stages of the scheme. By having commercial as a test case for the scheme by the time the Domestic version comes in next year all the kinks should have been sorted in the scheme. In the mean time they are giving what is in effect an upfront 1 year RHI payment so for many in the industry this is actually better news than could have been expected, you just have to think a little about what they are trying to do. I think on the back of this once people start to realise that in effect the domestic RHI is starting in July 2011 in the form of an upfront payment this will give the market a huge boost.

 

[TedM]

But none of those details will be published for another couple of months - so, as of today, people are still not in a position to make an informed decision.

 

[EasyMCSLtd]

The only thing that is still unknown are the tariff levels for the domestic RHI. However, if we go offer the Feed In Tariffs where the commercial rates are 50% below the domestic rates then the domestic RHI is set to be generous as is expected within the industry.

 

[HotSpot]

But none of those details will be published for another couple of months - so, as of today, people are still not in a position to make an informed decision.

I agree totally. The whole thing is frustrating installers who need concrete information to be able to offer customers and allow them to make informed decisions. It is getting too long and drawn-out. FITS is easy and so should the RHI be. £300 from July doesn't help a business. If it were £300 from now, then that would be better and at least there is a small incentive for them to work with. What will happen when the rates are issued? Will they be a massive disappointment? October 2012 is a long way off and we really do need to have something more to work with.

 

[EasyMCSLtd]

Hi Hotspot,

It does seem to some in the industry like the scheme is being stalled but i think they are trying to make sure they iron out any problems with the smaller commercial RHI before hitting the potentially huge domestic. RHI will be backdate until July 2009 so nobody will loose out and people from July 2011 get the bonus of a years payment upfront.

Many Thanks