Friday 30 March 2012

Renewable Heat grant scheme extended

HDG chip boiler installed by North Downs Wood and Heat
On 26 March, DECC announced a second phase to the Renewable Heat Premium Payment scheme, which will provide further short term support for installations of renewable heat technologies in the household sector.

The new phase of the scheme will run in Great Britain and again focus on houses not heated by mains gas. As with phase 1, there will be two parts to the scheme: a voucher for private householders and a competition for social landlords. Consideration is being given to the introduction of a Community Competition.

Statistics for the RHPP indicate that 785 biomass boiler grants have already been issued.   The second phase of the scheme, worth £25m (£10m more than the first phase), should provide even greater support for the installation of renewable heat technologies in the household sector.

The RHPP runs in parallel with the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), the World's first financial incentive for renewable heat.  This is open for commercial heat installations (which includes multiple domestic properties connected to a central biomass boiler).

RHPP Phase 1

This phase of the scheme will run until 30 March 2012. Applicants should note that the on-line application form will be removed from the Energy Saving Trust website during working hours on 30th March 2012. Regardless of when customers applied for or received their voucher, and in order to be eligible to receive their grant, all completed claims must arrive at the address printed on the voucher (Energy Saving Trust, Edinburgh) before midnight on 31st March 2012.

As part of the scheme, DECC and EST ran a competition for social housing providers to part-fund projects to install renewable heating. See below for a list of the winners who were awarded funding.

RHPP Phase 2

Under the new voucher scheme, homes not heated by mains gas will be able to apply for grants for air-to-water-source and ground and water source heat pumps, biomass boilers and solar thermal. All householders can apply for grants for solar thermal. There are minimum energy efficiency criteria, and householders must agree to complete customer questionnaires, as well as making provision for the installation of a meter to monitor their energy use and performance of their heating system.


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