Green light for domestic RHI
Paul Hardy, Baxi
“It certainly feels like Government has been listening to industry and has learnt from previous incentive schemes, such as FiT. It’s really refreshing to see a well thought out strategy that incorporates some of the key tools that industry has been championing for so very long.”
Paul Barwell, Solar Trade Association
“With the launch of the domestic RHI, the final piece of support for household solar technologies slots into place. Together with the Green Deal for insulation improvements and the Feed-in Tariff for solar power, householders now have a great choice of Government-backed financial incentives to choose from to best suit their clean energy needs.”
Mark McManus, Stiebel Eltron UK
“We have seen the success of the commercial RHI, so the introduction of the domestic RHI is a natural next step on the road towards meeting the UK’s carbon reduction targets.
“The scheme allows households which have already installed eligible renewable technologies to receive the subsidy payments, but it will now make the uptake of such technologies particularly appealing to those with properties off the gas grid reliant on oil or electricity for heating.”
Mustafa Findik, Ariston UK
“It’s great to hear that, after many delays, the criteria for the domestic phase of the Renewable Heat Incentive has finally been confirmed. By encouraging end users to switch to renewable heating products, we should see an increase in the uptake of technologies such as solar thermal and heat pumps, which bodes well in the ongoing drive towards reducing UK carbon emissions.”
Andy Deacon, Energy Saving Trust
“The domestic RHI makes renewable heat technologies more cost-effective in off-gas properties – around six per cent of all UK homes – which are often heated by more expensive fuels. With rising energy bills and worries about energy security, there needs to be a major transformation in the way we heat our homes, with the domestic RHI helping to make this a reality through enabling households to receive an income for renewable energy generation, while also achieving financial and carbon savings.”
Clyde MacVeigh, Dimplex Renewables
“Finally, consumers can have the confidence to go ahead with the installation of heat pumps, solar thermal and other technologies, knowing they will be rewarded for the renewable heat they generate."
Adrian Troop, Nu-Heat
"The benefits of the Domestic RHI are that the construction of the scheme and the tariffs applicable look to be well constructed, repaying the investment in renewable installation, whilst reaping the benefits of lower running costs. We want there to be a steady increase in the uptake of renewable technologies, allowing the market to cope with the growth and in return put out both quality designs and installations as a result."
John Kellett, Mitsubishi Electric
“RHI has been planned so that it produces a long term and sustainable growth in the use of renewable technologies. It also makes the case for heat pumps much stronger, especially against carbon-intensive and expensive technologies such as oil, LPG and direct electric.
“We know that there are homeowners who are interested in renewable heating technologies but after all the delays that this scheme has faced, many were not even speaking to installers until they knew for sure that the funding would be there. Now that a start date has been announced, with guaranteed tariffs for eligible installations over the next seven years, we are expecting to see a surge in the number of renewable heat installations."
Bruce Allen, HETAS
“The scheme will change the face of the renewables industry and provide valuable financial assistance to households who want to switch to renewables, particularly those in off-gas areas who wish to switch from oil. Up to £15,000 worth of funding over a seven year period is available for homes that want to install a biomass boiler. HETAS believes the domestic RHI is a robust scheme, and over 10,000 homes have already had the required Green Deal assessment as part of the criteria for funding.’
Simon Lomax, Kensa
“Kensa is pleased that the RHI has finally been launched. Without doubt, it is late, over-complicated and hampered by its association with the troubled Green Deal, but its arrival should ensure a renewed focus on ground source heat pumps as a compelling heating choice for every type of residence. And that is welcome news to a supply chain that has been remarkably patient throughout the policy’s lengthy gestation period. That commitment deserves reward – the RHI tariffs for GSHP’s provide that. Now that the scheme is in effect, installers across the country should be thinking about how they can capitilise on the Domestic RHI."
Stephen Knight, Navitron
“With an increase in demand for renewable heating installations expected, installers throughout the UK should be expanding their knowledge of green technologies and spreading word to customers. Most importantly though, if they haven’t already, installers should be considering joining MCS courses to become certified to perform eligible installations for clients now that the scheme has arrived."
Phil Hurley, NIBE Energy Systems
“To ensure the RHI vision now translates into reality, it’s also paramount that the industry pulls together to become the mouthpiece for the scheme. Effective marketing is the only way to drive consumer awareness about the long-term financial and environmental benefits of renewables. Spreading the right message now will lessen the need for incentives like the RHI in the future, and will help lay the foundations for sustained, organic market growth.”
Neil Schofield, Worcester Bosch
“The stationary market we currently have on our hands is certainly a lot more difficult to kickstart than one which is showing signs of growth. The total number of installers registered under MCS is now at its lowest since 2010, which suggests that an alarming number of heating engineers have lost faith in the market for renewable technologies. The fact is, we need a strong base of qualified installers to make the RHI a success, so DECC has a lot of work to do if it is to reverse this decline.
“We’re also in a position where the funding is weighted heavily in favour of biomass, which is one of the most expensive systems to install and one requiring the largest amount of user intervention. Questions have already been raised over whether DECC has backed the right horse in this respect."
Jeremy Hawksley, OFTEC
"The Government’s £1.8 billion Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme, launched today, is costly, impractical and unlikely to attract mass consumer support. The RHI looks set to be as unsuccessful as the Government’s ‘flag ship’ Green Deal scheme where just a few hundred of the nearly 150,000 households undertaking a Green Deal assessment have signed up to the scheme."
Delta Energy & Environment (Delta-ee)
"Delta-ee’s recent customer research with rural on and off-gas homeowners reveals that the RHI scheme has high appeal for many customers. However, the research also shows there are a number of potential barriers that could reduce uptake. These include:
o Costs and bureaucracy associated with the link to Green Deal Assessments (which make the customer journey longer and more complex).
o A continued lack of awareness of low carbon technologies among both customers and installers.
o Customer fear of moving from old familiar technology to new “unproven” technology.
This makes a market boom unlikely: we will see evolution, not revolution. The industry will have to work hard to make it a success – particularly to educate installers and customers, and to reassure customers that heat pumps, biomass and solar thermal are not ‘high risk’ technologies."
