Renewable Heat Incentive scheme delayed

The planned first phase of he Renewable Heat Incentive scheme due to open today (30 September 2011) has been pulled.

Applications for the scheme for non-domestic generators should have started today but have been halted after concerns put forward by the European Commission.

The Commission believes that the tariff currently set for large biomass at 2.6p/kWh is too high.

State aid approval is needed for the RHI scheme to go ahead, and while the Department and Energy and Climate Change believes the EC will approve aid, the large biomass tariff will need first to be reviewed.

The RHI regulations will now need to be amended and submitted to Parliament for approval.

The latest development will add uncertainty for farmers about investing in biomass systems.

A statement on the DECC website says they are committed to launching the scheme:

“Once we have received written confirmation from the Commission, we will make a further announcement about what this means for the large biomass tariff and the timing of the launch.”