The RHI scheme was introduced on 28 November 2011 to promote the uptake of renewable heat technologies by non-domestic users, and extended as part of a domestic scheme in April 2014. As at March 2016, over 14,000 projects had been accredited under the non-domestic scheme, representing 2.3 GW of heat generation capacity. The UK Government estimates that each year £33bn is spent on heating, the vast majority of which comes from burning of fossil fuels and represents almost half of the final energy consumed in the UK today. The implementation of the RHI forms part of the Government’s target to generate 15% of our energy from renewable sources by 2020.
To be eligible for the RHI, installations must initially be accredited by Ofgem and must use heat for an ‘eligible purpose’, as defined in the relevant legislation throughout its life. The schemes are intended to promote the deployment of technologies that produce renewable heat, including
The majority of deployment in the non-domestic scheme to date (85% of accreditations or 60% of accredited capacity) has come from small scale biomass boilers. In March 2016, the government published a consultation to reform the RHI through making a number of tariff changes and the introduction of controls to enable budget management.
Region / Country: United Kingdom
