DECC proposes efficiency criteria for RHI

24th September 2012


Related Topics

Related tags

  • Business & Industry ,
  • Procurement ,
  • Management/saving ,
  • Renewable

Author

IEMA

Organisations wanting to claim payments under the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) will have to prove their building is energy efficient, under new proposals from DECC

In a new consultation on expanding the number of technologies eligible for subsidies under the non-domestic RHI, the energy department has also suggested that commercial and industrial applicants should be required to demonstrate their buildings are energy efficient.

No energy-efficiency requirements where included in the scheme when it was launched in November 2011, because it was thought to be too complex to create a single standard across the diverse range of buildings covered.

To combat this issued DECC proposes splitting applicants into three groups: organisations using heat from processes (such as steel manufacture); district heating schemes (installations which supply heat to multiple domestic properties); and commercial and industrial users (such as supermarkets or office blocks).

Process heat users would be exempt from proving energy efficiency under the proposals as they are subject to the Carbon Reduction Commitment, while district heating schemes would have to ensure efficiency measures had been put in place at a specified portion of the domestic properties in the scheme (at least 70%).

Commercial and industrial applicants, however, would have to prove the energy efficiency of their building to be able to claim payments for any renewable heat being generated.

“Energy efficiency is at the forefront of reducing our carbon emissions and the forthcoming green deal will help households and businesses with the up-front costs of installing efficiency measures,” states energy minister Greg Barker in the opening to the consultation.

“We recognise that it is not appropriate to apply the same requirements for multiple households, large commercial buildings and industrial applications. Therefore, we are seeking views on how we can best combine energy efficiency with the expansion of renewable heat.”

With a range of different initiatives available to assess and certify the energy performance of buildings, including BREEAM and display energy certificates, the energy department is consulting on whether it would be best to allow a range of methods to be used and set minimum of standards for each method.

Alongside a new energy-efficiency requirement, DECC is also proposing increasing the level of support under the RHI for deep geothermal heat, from 3p per kilowatt hour to 5p/kWh. It is also suggesting new support levels for biogas installations over 200kW; biomass- and bioliquid-powered combined heat and power stations; and air-to-air heat pumps.

In a separate consultation, DECC has set out is plans to expand the RHI scheme to include air to water heat pumps, and a broader variety of feedstocks for energy from waste plants – adapting the eligibility criteria used in the Renewables Obligation.

The Renewable Energy Association (REA) welcomed DECC’s proposals saying that renewable heat technologies have a major role to play in cutting the UK’s carbon emissions.

“Renewable heat has been the sleeping giant of UK renewable energy policy,” said The REA’s head of policy Paul Thompson. “We are delighted the government has published these proposals on time.”

Subscribe

Subscribe to IEMA's newsletters to receive timely articles, expert opinions, event announcements, and much more, directly in your inbox.


Transform articles

Information overload: the difficulty with data

The huge quantities of data we generate online every day is having an increasingly negative impact on the environment. Chris Seekings examines what is being done to tackle the problem

30th November 2023

Read more

The Labour Party’s climate policy team took part in a panel discussion with IEMA representatives at Westminster this morning, outlining what they plan to do should they win the next general election.

29th November 2023

Read more

The UK’s renewables industry is being used to extend the life of the sector that is driving us towards climate breakdown. Tom Pashby reports

28th November 2023

Read more

The UK government will introduce a new bill requiring the North Sea Transition Authority to run oil and gas licensing rounds every year, the King’s Speech confirmed today.

7th November 2023

Read more

A vastly different energy system is set to emerge by the end of this decade, with almost 10 times as many electric cars on roads, and solar panels generating more electricity than the entire US power system does today.

24th October 2023

Read more

IEMA CEO Sarah Mukherjee MBE talks to Rachel Kyte about diplomacy, women’s leadership, diversity and transforming energy systems

28th September 2023

Read more

Rick Gould looks at the options for decarbonising cement

28th September 2023

Read more

The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has this week granted permission for drilling at the controversial Rosebank oil and gas field located 80 miles north-west of Shetland.

28th September 2023

Read more

Media enquires

Looking for an expert to speak at an event or comment on an item in the news?

Find an expert

IEMA Cookie Notice

Clicking the ‘Accept all’ button means you are accepting analytics and third-party cookies. Our website uses necessary cookies which are required in order to make our website work. In addition to these, we use analytics and third-party cookies to optimise site functionality and give you the best possible experience. To control which cookies are set, click ‘Settings’. To learn more about cookies, how we use them on our website and how to change your cookie settings please view our cookie policy.

Manage cookie settings

Our use of cookies

You can learn more detailed information in our cookie policy.

Some cookies are essential, but non-essential cookies help us to improve the experience on our site by providing insights into how the site is being used. To maintain privacy management, this relies on cookie identifiers. Resetting or deleting your browser cookies will reset these preferences.

Essential cookies

These are cookies that are required for the operation of our website. They include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into secure areas of our website.

Analytics cookies

These cookies allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors to our website and to see how visitors move around our website when they are using it. This helps us to improve the way our website works.

Advertising cookies

These cookies allow us to tailor advertising to you based on your interests. If you do not accept these cookies, you will still see adverts, but these will be more generic.

Save and close