Details on the Renewable Heat Premium Payments (RHPPs) were announced on 21st July 2011. For observers close to this policy, many of the details provided today will not have come as a surprise following the Government’s earlier public announcements on this issue.
The RHPPs will be available from 1st August 2011 to 31st March 2012, and will be administered by the Energy Saving Trust (EST). RHPP vouchers will be eligible for a certain time period, dependent on the technology, and will be reimbursed directly to the customer on completion of the installation.
Minimum energy efficiency criteria must be met in order to be eligible. The house must be the proprietor’s main home, and they must have 250mm of loft insulation and cavity wall insulation where practical. Also both the product and the installer must be MCS accredited or equivalent. Ground source heat pumps, air source heat pumps and biomass boilers are only eligible for householders with homes not heated by gas from the grid in England, Scotland and Wales.
Once the equipment is up and running the customer will be asked to fill in two surveys and some customers will be required to allow a meter to be fitted to their property free of charge. The selection process for this is expected to be random, although JDS would be surprised if Government did not try to ensure a broad range of locations and technologies are chosen for closer monitoring.
People who have installed renewable heat technologies under the Premium Payments scheme will be eligible for ongoing support through the RHI providing they meet the eligibility criteria of the full RHI scheme, the details of which will not be known until next year, following a consultation expected this autumn. This is a consistent position from DECC, but could create some uncertainty for companies and customers.
