Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI)
The UK Government’s RHI scheme was set up in order to give quarterly cash payments, over a period of seven years, to anyone who installs an eligible renewable heating technology. It’s a financial incentive which aims to promote the use of renewable energy, helping the planet in the process, whilst giving you a reward and monetary recompense for the eligible technology installed.
The RHI scheme has two separate sections, domestic and non-domestic, both of which will be covered in this section. Each section of the scheme has different terms which would be applicable in order to receive the RHI payment from the Government.
All of the Thermsaver team are here to give advice and guidance around the RHI scheme, in order to help our clients understand the financial benefits to them.
Domestic RHI
The types of heating technology you can claim money back from in domestic RHI are as follows:
- Biomass boilers
- Solar water heating
- Heat pumps (certain types)
The payments you could receive, if any of these technologies are installed within your home, depends on the amount of renewable heat made by the heating system in question.
In order to qualify for the payment you must also own your own home, or be a private or social landlord. New build properties aren’t normally eligible for the payment unless you are building your own home.
In domestic RHI the renewable heating system in question must only be used to heat a single property and it must also be capable of obtaining a domestic Energy Performance Certificate (EPC).
An EPC is a report which will assess the energy efficiency of your home and the technology installed within that home. It will also provide information on how to reduce energy and save money.
This report is required whenever a house is bought, sold or rented out. This means that there may already be an EPC for your home, in order to find this out you can check through the Scottish EPC Register – www.scottishepcregister.org.uk. In England and Wales it is also possible to check through the Landmark Register – www.epcregister.com.
In gaining an EPC report you will be given a reference number which will then be used to check the application is sound. The following things will normally be assessed:
- A determination of whether the property is in fact domestic.
- Evidence which supports that the required loft and cavity wall insulation measures have been installed.
- A determination of the heat demand figures used for the payments calculation for non-metered biomass and heat pump applicants.
In order for the application to go ahead the heat demand figure is vital. If your EPC report does not include this then you must get a new report which includes this information.
In order to find out how much money you could receive each month through the scheme, the government have set up a Renewable Heat Incentive calculator:
www.gov.uk/renewable-heat-incentive-calculator
Please note though, any figures given are estimates only. In order to fully realise the benefits of installing a renewable technology within your property, speak to one of our team.
Non-Domestic RHI
This branch of the scheme applies to commercial, public sector, not-for-profit or industrial premises and can include small and large businesses and schools or organisation with district heating schemes, whereby multiple homes are serviced with one heating system.
The types of technology that can be claimed within non-domestic RHI are:
- Biomass
- Ground and Water source Heat pumps
- Deep geothermal
- Solar thermal collectors
- Biomethane and biogas
- Biogas below 200kWth
The non-domestic scheme varies from its domestic counterpart in various ways. In successful non-domestic applications, the eligible renewable heat generator could provide a subsidy payment for 20 years.
This long-term financial incentive is offered in the hope of significantly increasing the proportion of heat generated from renewable sources by businesses and non-domestic properties across the UK.
The full guidance and criteria in order to qualify for non-domestic RHI is available through Ofgem, the official body for the scheme, and can be found via: www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/guidance-volume-one-two-and-fuel-measurement-and-sampling-guidance
However, a general checklist for eligibility is as follows:
- The applicant must be the owner of the installation.
- Their identity and bank details must be validated.
- Where there are multiple owners, the applicant must have permission to act for the others.
- The plant must be an eligible renewable heat technology type and size.
- The installation(s) must have been completed and the plant first commissioned on or after 15 July 2009 (Scotland, Wales and England).
Further to the technology listed above, it is also possible to claim for the following technologies if commissioned on or after 4 December 2013:
- Air to Water Heat Pumps
- Biogas 200kWth and above
- A CHP system which generates heat from either solid biomass, biogas or waste in combination with any other source of energy.
For further advice, information and guidance on either domestic or non-domestic RHI please don’t hesitate to contact us on 01698 300100.
