Renewable Heat Incentive
Over the past few months, not many days have gone by without business and industry telling me that Government support for the low carbon heat industry was not a luxury or a ‘nice to have’.
It was absolutely critical, they said, to our energy security, for tackling climate change, but also for jobs and economic growth.
It’s a message I heard loud and clear, understood, and one that we have now clearly acted upon. Britain’s burgeoning clean heat industry has finally received the news that it’s long been waiting for.
The new coalition Government’s recent spending review announced that a scheme designed to transform the production of renewable heat in the UK – the renewable heat incentive (RHI)- will go ahead from June 2011.
This is a world first and real fillip to an industry that will boost green growth in Britain. It’s likely to provide support for a wide range of renewable heat technologies – large and small - from household solar-thermal panels to industrial wood pellet boilers.
We have said since day one that this government will be the greenest government ever. Confronting the challenges posed by heat will be vital in achieving that pledge.
That’s because the heat used in our homes, businesses and factories is responsible for around half of all the energy consumed in the UK, and accounts for roughly half of all the UK’s carbon emissions. This huge drain on energy resources is not an issue we can ignore. Especially in the face of dwindling North Sea gas reserves and the need to protect ourselves from energy insecurity.
Our decision to give the green light to the RHI is therefore significant. £860 million of finance from the Government over the next four years will help provide transparency, longevity and certainty to the renewable heat industry. The coalitions’ decision to replace the previously proposed levy with straightforward Government funding will mean a less complex and costly approach for both business and consumers.
It will drive a more-than-tenfold increase of renewable heat in Great Britain over the coming decade, shifting
|54| ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE
By Greg Barker, Energy and Climate Change Minister
renewable heat from a fringe industry firmly into the mainstream.
Over the coming weeks we will be working hard to finalise the details of the scheme – including to determine the levels of support for various technologies. I know the industry will be eager to get this detail as soon as possible so that they can get on with their investment plans. These details will be published by the end of the year, and I look forward to hearing the views of the sector.
Our decision on the RHI, as well as confirmation that the Feed-in Tariff for small scale low carbon electricity will continue as planned until 2013, unless there is higher than expected deployment, sends a clear message to industry.
A message that this coalition Government is serious about providing certainty to Britain’s low carbon industries.
Green business can now invest in confidence and look to this government as a partner in helping them to deliver growth.
These decisions will help bring an end to investor uncertainty and underline the commitment the coalition Government has to creating viable markets for renewable energy in the UK.
It is a real display of the fact that when the coalition talks about being the ‘greenest government ever’ we mean it.
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