Renewable Heat Incentive “Premium Payment” figures released

Hello everybody – the weekend is coming and the Renewable Heat Incentive is on its way!

The RHI is a payment for generating heat from renewable sources (e.g. heat pumps and solar thermal). Like the Feed-in-Tariffs (for solar PV/wind turbines), it is set by Government.

Tariffs will be paid from July 2011 for non-residential systems and October 2012 for households. Until then, households may be able to benefit from what is called the Premium Payment (however there are some caveats which we will come to…)

The RHI Premium Payment is like a grant for household renewable heat installations installed after August 2011 and before March 2012 (the household RHI doesn’t start until probably October 2012).

The agreed Premium Payment levels can be seen below:

RHI Premium Payments

Ok so the caveats to this payment are…..

Except for solar thermal, which is available to any householder, other technologies are only available for households not currently using gas heating. So if you are replacing a gas boiler then you cannot receive the Premium Payment – which is a shame as a lot of people use gas to heat their home. The government’s thinking we believe (rightly or wrongly, you can decide for yourself…), is that they are focusing on the people who run their homes on direct electricity and oil which is currently more expensive than gas to heat your home.

Householders must certify that this is their main home (not too difficult!) and that they have basic energy efficiency measures in place (loft insulation to 250mm and cavity wall insulation, where appropriate).

Both the product and installer must be MCS (or equivalent) certified (just like the FIT).

 

If you want more information on this or would like some more impartial advice we suggest going to http://www.rhincentive.co.uk/ as this is a really good website that explains what can be quite a complicated process.

Ok thats it for this week – have a great weekend!

The Integr8 Team (please follow us on Twittter @Integr8_LTD for all the latest news and events happening with us.