Millions Could Benefit as Launch of Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) Is Confirmed

Online, July 12, 2013 (Newswire.com) - Following final consultation on the tariff levels and format last September, DECC has confirmed:

• The domestic RHI will launch in Spring 2014 and run for 7 years

• Owners of ground source heat pumps will receive payments of 18.8p per kilowatt hour generated by their heating system

• Owners of air source heat pumps will receive payments of 7.3p per kilowatt hour generated by their heating system

• Systems installed since 15th July 2009 will qualify

These payments are right at the top end of payment scales proposed previously and mean that for a typical 3-bedroom house installing heat pumps on a retrofit basis, the owner of the system could receive an approximate amount of between £1,825 and £4,700 per annum depending on the type of heat pump installed.*

Over the 7 year period of the RHI payments, this could net owners of heat pumps between £12,775 and £32,900.

* Figures are indicative only and based on a retrofit installation to a property with a demand of 25,000 kWh per annum but can be taken as possibly representative on a typical 3-bedroom property (figures will vary and larger properties can expect to receive bigger payments).

Commentating on the confirmation of the scheme, Ice Energy Technologies Managing Director Andrew Sheldon said "This is exactly the news we were hoping for.

"At Ice Energy we have campaigned long and hard for the Renewable Heat Incentive as we always believed that those ecologically minded individuals who have already had the foresight to adopt these systems ought to be rewarded for doing so.

"We also saw the RHI as absolutely vital in kick-starting the drive towards renewables in order for the UK to have any hope of meeting the challenging targets for reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and lowering carbon emissions by 2020.

"The fact that we now have an incentive scheme which not only aims to repay the installation costs with hopefully a little bit extra on top, but also allows people installing heat pumps to future-proof their supply and escape the continuous escalation of energy prices should result in millions of people across the UK benefitting from this cleaner, safer and more efficient technology for years to come."

Mr. Sheldon did offer one piece of advice to homeowners considering heat pumps; "As we saw with the launch of the Feed-in-Tariff for solar PV, once the level of uptake reached certain parameters the tariff rates fell meaning those people on board from the start benefitted most. We also saw a whole host of companies proclaiming themselves to be 'experts' flooding into the industry.

"I fully expect this to be the case with heat pumps and the RHI so our advice would be to act swiftly to ensure that you don't miss out and to choose a company who can ensure your heat pump system is designed and specified correctly and whose products meet MCS guidelines.

"This latter point is vital in order to ensure the system works correctly and that it qualifies the owner to receive the RHI payments."