A £15 million Government grant scheme to pump-prime a major home eco heating programme and create jobs is set to launch next month.
The
Renewable Heat Premium Payment (RHPP), a forerunner to the Government’s domestic
Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), set to launch next year, will support up to 25,000 installations, including solar thermal, heat pumps and biomass boilers, across UK households between August and March 2012, it will be announced today. But it has also emerged that the Government’s RHI aimed at businesses has been delayed until September. The £860 million subsidy scheme was due to open at the end of July.
"Today starts a new era in home heating because we’re making it more economical for people to go green by providing discounts off the cost of eco heaters," Climate Change Minister Greg Barker said.
Under the RHPP, homeowners will be able to apply on a first-come-first-served basis for vouchers valued at between £300 and £1250 to put towards the cost of installing
renewable heating systems in their homes. Installations will have to be carried out by qualified installers registered under the Government’s Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS).
The RHPP will help develop the UK’s fledgling environmental technologies market, the Government said, helping to boost jobs and ensure high standards for the industry.
"Getting money off an eco heater will not just cut carbon emissions, it will also help create a market in developing, selling and installing kit like solar thermal panels or heat pumps," said Barker.
Who will be able to apply
Any home so long as it’s the main residence and has been adequately insulated, will be able to apply for solar thermal vouchers worth £300 each. But the scheme will prioritise those homes that are not mains gas heated, who will also be able to apply for vouchers worth between £850 and £1250 to go towards the cost of biomass systems, air or ground source heat pumps.
Valuable research
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said the RHPP would provide the Government with valuable insight into renewable heating systems and how they perform in homes. As such, the scheme will be reviewed after £10 million worth of vouchers have been given out.
"We want to learn more about how these systems will work in a domestic setting and this is an ideal opportunity to do this," said a DECC spokesperson.
Households taking part in the scheme will be expected to take part in surveys to provide feedback on the systems, and may have metering equipment installed free of charge as part of the project.
Renewable Heat Incentive Households that use RHPP vouchers to install eco-heating systems will be able to apply for the domestic RHI, which is set to launch alongside the Government’s flagship
energy efficiency policy the Green Deal, next year.
The RHI is a scheme to increase
investment in renewable heat technologies by rewarding households and businesses that install them through a system of tariffs.
Heating is responsible for 46 per cent of UK carbon emissions and the RHI aims to cut that by 10 per cent by 2020, supporting 150,000 jobs in the heating industry at the same time.
The cashback scheme, which is expected to bring an estimated 12 per cent return on investment over 20 years, was due to open for businesses and landlords from July 29, but DECC has confirmed that it will now open for applications from commercial entities from September 30.
The RHPP, which launches on August 1, is being managed by the Energy Saving Trust and an information line and website is going live today for people to get in touch.
The RHI for business is administered by Ofgem E-Serve.
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