ENER-G Sustainable Technologies has welcomed the proposed increase in the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) for ground source heat pumps in commercial, industrial and community buildings, saying that it would offer a level playing field with other qualifying renewable technologies.
The company's managing director, Paul Burley, said: 'The increased RHI payments would dramatically reduce the payback period on ground source heat pumps, providing guaranteed fixed, inflation linked payments over 20 years. This would make the technology a financially attractive option for organisations seeking to use renewables to drive carbon reduction.'
A 99kW ground source heat pump operating 1,500 full load hours a year (typical for a school or moderately sized business premises) could qualify for a payment of £13,959 over the 20 year duration of the 9.4p/kWh tariff (based upon 148,500kW hours of heat produced per annum). This is in addition to cost savings from displacing energy sourced from fossil fuels.
The Government review was prompted by figures showing that only 2% of RHI payments had been made to owners of heat pump installations. It has now acknowledged differences between actual costs and load factors used in its original tariff level calculations.
Chairman of the ground source heat pump association, Brian Kennelly, said: 'Our submitted evidence supports an increase of tariff rates to 9.4p/kWh. This will provide the much-need certainty to the market and encourage increased take up of the technology. It's great news that DECC have recognised the omissions in the data and are revisiting the tariff levels so that this low carbon technology can flourish and so significantly improve Britain's environmental credentials.'
