Ground Source Heat Pump RHI tariffs increase dramatically

DECC has announced the long overdue increase of the Renewable Heat Incentive Tariffs for ground source heat pumps following take up of only 1% of the expected rate on this technology.

RHI tariffs for GSHPs double

After extensive lobbying of DECC by the GSHPA over an extended period, the Minister has recognised the need to increase the rates of RHI for GSHPs dramatically:

Renewable Heat Incentive Commercial	Scale	RHI tariffs pence/kWh old rates	RHI tariffs pence/kWh revised rates	RHI tariffs pence/kWh rates 1 Apr 2016	Tariff lifetime in years
Ground source heat pumps	up to 100 kW	4.8	8.7	8.84	20
Ground source heat pumps	over 100 kW	3.5	8.7	8.84	20
Air to water heat pumps		0.0	2.5	2.54	20
Solar thermal	up to 200 kW	9.2	10.0	10.16	20
Solid biomass	up to 200 kW	8.6	6.8	3.62¹	20
Solid biomass	200-1,000 kW	5.3	5.1	5.18	20
Solid biomass	over 1,000 kW	1.0	2.0	2.03	20

RHI rates for ground source heat pumps fall to 2.64p for use over 15% of the full rated capacity per annum.

RHI rates for medium and small biomass fall to 0.96p for use over 15% of the full rated capacity per annum.

Revised rates apply to installations accredited with Ofgem after 21 January 2013.

¹ RHI for small biomass fell from 8.6p in June 2014 to 3.62p from Apr 2016.

¹ See Biomass Degression

ICAX welcomes the correction in RHI tariffs for ground source heat pump installations

ICAX welcomes the revised rates for GSHP installations which will allow ground source energy to compete for renewable heat installations and make a real contribution to reducing carbon emissions.

ICAX also welcomes the simplification of providing a single rate for the commercial RHI for GSHPs of 8.84 pence/kWhour instead of differentiating against systems of more than 100kW peak capacity.

RHI will now contribute to realistic payback periods for renewable heat

For those using Interseasonal Heat Transfer, the annual clean energy cashback for heating will normally be larger than the annual running cost, thus providing an allowance for the higher initial capital cost of IHT installations.

GSHPs will now contribute to the UK's carbon reduction targets

With the dramatic increase in RHI tariffs for ground source heat pumps, the ground source industry will again be in a position to contribute to the UK's carbon reduction targets.

See Ten reasons for the UK to use ground source energy to reduce carbon emissions.

 

 

See Ground Source Heating          See Ground Source Cooling          See Ground Source Energy