Changes to the non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) have come into effect this week after parliamentary approval.
Following a long period of consultation with the industry, DECC has confirmed that air to water heat pumps will finally be included in the scheme, which provides guaranteed payments over a 20 year period for eligible installations for renewable heat generated by organisations in the commercial sector.
Under the changes, air to water heat pumps will now be included with tariff of 2.5p/kWh and the tariffs for renewable heat generated by ground source heat pumps have increased with split tariffs of 8.7p/kWh for the first 1,314 hours of operation and 2.6p/kWh for any operation over 1,314 hours. Solar thermal technology is also set to benefit from an increased tariff, up from 9.2p/kWh to 10p/kWh.
Clyde MacVeigh, marketing director at Dimplex Renewables, comments:
“The improvements to the non-domestic RHI scheme are good news for both renewables installers and to organisations looking for an answer to rising heating bills.
“The non-domestic phase of the scheme has suffered from the glaring omission of air source heat pumps since it was first introduced in 2011. It was a bewildering omission of a proven technology which is well suited to commercial retrofit projects, particularly in off-gas areas in place of oil or LPG.
“Now the inclusion of air to water heat pumps and increased tariffs for ground source heat pumps will finally provide further encouragement for installers and organisations to take advantage of the benefits of high efficiency heat pumps such as the Dimplex LA TU (air source) and SI TU (ground source) ranges.
“With the domestic scheme now finally under way, we are expecting a knock-on effect in the commercial sector as overall awareness of renewable heat technologies and their cost-saving capabilities increases. DECC has listened to the industry and these changes, together with improved tariffs for other technologies including solar thermal, will only give added incentive for organisations to invest.”
