[ Spotlight: RHI ] N
early half of all the energy consumed in the UK is used to produce heat. The government knows, if it is to meet its target to generate 15 per cent of its 2020 energy consumption from
renewable sources, it needs to do something about heat – and quickly. Only about two per cent of current heat demand
is met by renewable sources. The coalition estimates that 12 per cent of heat needs to come from renewable energy by 2020 if overall targets are to be achieved – a near six-fold increase from today’s levels. The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) is the principal mechanism for driving this tough transition. The fi rst such scheme in the world, the RHI was
launched at the end of 2011 and aims to bridge the gap between the cost of fossil -fuel heat sources and renewable -heat alternatives, through fi nancial support for owners of installations. A tariff , payable in pence per kilowatt-hour (p/kWh) of heat generated, is available for eligible technologies, including biomass boilers, ground -source heat pumps and solar thermal.
Take -up Figures from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) show that take-up has been lower than expected. Some building owners have been put off by their experiences with the government’s Feed-in Tariff (FITs) scheme for renewable electricity (tariff s were slashed after the scheme became too popular ), while the tailing-off of the market for solar photovoltaics (PV) resulted in many installation contractors giv ing up on the renewables sector. The RHI has also garnered a reputation for a lengthy and bureaucratic approvals process, and onerous metering requirements. As of 31 December 2013, the non-domestic scheme has registered 4,100 applications, representing 827 MW of installed capacity, with 2,900 accredited installations. Only 634,810 MWh of heat ha ve been generated by accredited installations that have received payment, against a target contribution of 72 TWh from heat by 2020. S ome technologies hardly fi gure in the data :
biomass -boiler installations account for 99 per cent of RHI applications by heat generated (93 per cent by number of installations) and the coalition is seeking to stimulate take-up of technologies such as ground - source heat pumps by increasing the tariff s – by as much as three times the present rates – while largely holding biomass tariff s at current levels.
Domestic RHI Moves to increase the scope of the RHI to include technologies such as air -source heat pumps, biomass direct -air heating, biogas combustion, biomass and bioliquid combined heat and power, and deep geothermal have been welcomed by industry practitioners. The changes are expected to start in spring 2014, alongside the much-delayed introduction of the domestic RHI scheme.
March 2014 ECA Today 27
Domestic air-source heat pump installation
The domestic RHI is a great initiative that will be good for homeowners, helping them to make the case for renewable technologies
Wessex wins in Wiltshire
An air -source heat pump solution from Wessex Renewable Energy has proved a cost- eff ective alternative to the oil-fi red boiler at a rural domestic property in Wiltshire. Wessex has overcome the challenges
presented by the 15-year-old, solid-walled property, opting for a high -temperature output unit from Daikin. The system was sized to accommodate 100 per cent of the heating requirements, as required by MCS standards. The outlay of about £12,000 will be recouped
in around six years by a combination of the RHI payment (7.3p per kWh for seven years) and reduced running costs over oil.
The installation of
biomass and combined renewable heating
solutions are increasing
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