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The Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme Regulations 2018 (SI 2018/611)
Commencement: 22nd May 2018
Revokes: The Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme Regulations 2011
Summary
These Regulations re-enact the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme Regulation 2011 and continue to facilitate and encourage the renewable generation of heat by giving subsidy payments to eligible generators of renewable heat and producers of biomethane.
They are split into 11 parts:
- Part 1: Introductory provisions
- Part 2: Eligibility and matters relating to eligibility
- Part 3: Accreditation, registration and tariff guarantees
- Part 4: Ongoing obligations for participants
- Part 5: Sustainable solid biomass, biogas or biomethane
- Part 6: Changes affecting accredited RHI installations and registration procedures
- Part 7: Periodic support payments
- Part 8: Additional RHI capacity and additional capacity for biomethane production
- Part 9: Enforcement
- Part 10: Administrative functions of the Authority
- Part 11: Revocations and savings
These parts cover the following.
The Gas and Electricity Markets Authority must make, to participants who are owners of accredited RHI installations, payments for generating heat that is:
- used in a building for any of the following purposes:
i. heating a space;
ii. heating water;
iii. carrying out a process; or
- used in a building for any purpose other than:
i. commercial cleaning; or
ii. commercial drying.
The Authority must make periodic support payments to participants who are producers of biomethane for injection.
Under these Regulations the following will no longer be eligible heat uses –
- Heating a swimming pool other than one which is used for commercial or municipal purposes;
- Drying digestate or woodfuel; and
- Drying, cleaning or processing of certain waste.
Changes are made for shared group loop systems, in particular that payments will be based on deemed heat generation (as opposed to metered heat generation) where ground source heat pumps which form part of such system are installed in domestic premises.
Any necessary planning permission is now required as part of the eligibility criteria.
These Regulations introduce a process of ‘tariff guarantees’ to give applicants greater certainty about the level of tariff they will be eligible to receive in respect of heat or biomethane production earlier in their project lifecycle.
Tariffs will be increased for heat generated by biogas installations and biomethane producers.
Finally, payments to owners of installations generating heat from biogas and to biomethane producers will be reduced where less than 50% of the biogas produced derives from waste or residue.