Renewable Heat Incentive

Concerns over the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) to launch in June 2011 were unfounded as £860 million of funding has been allocated between 2011-2015.

The government have firmly committed to the RHI to drive a “more than tenfold increase of renewable heat over the coming decade”. The major change will be the government taking responsibility for directly funding the scheme as opposed to consumers doing so via a complicated system, as proposed originally.

There were no details of the tariff levels offered in the review and since the speech there have been no other releases.

There is no doubt that reduced levels of funding will mean the tariff levels will be less than proposed but we will have to wait until the end of the year to find out the detail.

Feed in Tariff

Fears that the review of the FIT would mean a dramatic cut in funding were premature, however DECC commented that there will be a refocus on the more ”cost effective technologies” up to 2015 but the time table will be uncahged with a review in 2014-2015.

Domestic Energy Efficiency

The Green Deal, The government effort to offer energy efficiency measures and technologies through low cost loans, paid for via savings on energy bills,  goes ahead.

The Warm front programme will continue until 2103 with a reduced budget of £110 million in 2011/2012 and £100 million in 2012/2013.

Energy companies will be obliged to offer help to “fuel poor” households from 2011 through Social Price Support funding rising from £250 million in 2011/2012 to 3310 million in 2014/2015