Renewable Heat Incentive March 9, 2016 12:00 am New proposals for changes to the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) could lead to further uncertainty in the industry. The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is seeking views on proposed reforms to the existing domestic and non-domestic RHI schemes. The proposals are to be introduced in two stages. The first stage of the new rules will be introduced from 1st April 2016. Rather strange as the consultation is still open then. This will include changes to how the RHI’s budget is managed with the introduction of a new budget cap. This will allow the Secretary of State to suspend the scheme to new accreditations if spending is at risk of exceeding its budget cap. This is in addition to the current degression mechanism. The proposals for the second stage of the reforms are expected to come into force in spring 2017. These include: Moving to one tariff (between 2.03 – 2.90p/kWh) for all new non-domestic biomass boilers which should encourage larger systems Retaining the current tariff for biomass-CHP plant, to encourage these systems Limiting support to new biomass and biomethane plant which use crop-based feedstocks Introducing tariff guarantees and extending the range of technologies eligible for preliminary accreditation Removing support for new solar thermal systems Further information on the consultation can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/the-renewable-heat-incentive-a-reformed-and-refocused-scheme Responses need to be in by 27th April.
