Renewable energy manufacturers have welcomed tariff levels announced today to encourage more British homes to generate their own heat.
Energy minister Greg Barker confirmed the new rates for British households to produce domestic renewable heat, via solar, geothermal or biomass systems.
The Renewable Heat Incentive scheme has already been in place for the non-domestic market for the last 18 months, but will now be extended out to householders.
Homes that install their own air source heat pumps will receive 7.3p per kilowatt hour generated, 12.2p/kwh for biomass boilers, 18.8p/kwh for ground source heat pumps and at least 19.2p/kwh for solar thermal, with payments made every quarter for a seven year period. The scheme will open to applicants from next Spring.
“Investing for the long term in new renewable heat technologies will mean cleaner energy and cheaper bills. So this package of measures is a big step forward in our drive to get innovative renewable heating kit in our homes,” said Mr Barker
“Householders can now invest in a range of exciting heating technologies knowing how much the tariff will be for different renewable heat technologies and benefit from the clean green heat produced. We are also sending a clear signal to industry that the Coalition is 110 percent committed to boosting and sustaining growth in this sector.”
New households, landlords and anyone who has installed renewable heat technology since July 2009 will be eligible to join the scheme, which will also offer extra payments for monitoring packages and to help with the upfront costs of renewable kits under the Green Deal
The new tariff rates were welcomed by industry groups as offering a significant incentive for domestic entry into the renewable heat generation.
“This is a massive boost for the solar thermal market,” said Stuart Elmes, chair of the Solar Trade Association’s thermal working group
“The value of this incentive is on a whole new level, there’s nothing like it anywhere in the world.”
The Renewable Energy Association said the tariffs were welcome news for consumers and the energy industry, but said it was disappointed that non-domestic tariffs had been delayed.
“After several delays and stagnation in the market, today’s announcement will give a huge boost to the domestic renewable heat industry Companies will now be able to tell homeowners exactly how much financial support they can earn through the use of renewable heating systems,” said the body’s head of on-site renewables, Mike Landy.
“Green heat can be very cost-effective, particularly for households off the gas grid, and can make a major dent in the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions from heating, which account for roughly double those of electricity and nearly half the UK total.”
Recommended for you
