RHI Metering

The Renewable Heat Incentive is a fixed payment for the renewable heat you generate yourself. The Renewable Heat Incentive is similar to the Feed-in Tariffs, a comparable scheme for electricity which went live in April 2010.

The Feed-In Tariffs have done more than anything else to accelerate the installation of renewable energy capacity in Europe. That’s why the founders of Renewable Heat Incentive Limited were so active in the campaign to introduce them in the UK. It succeeded and in 2011 the first phase of the Renewable Heat Incentive will come into force.

While the Renewable Heat Incentive is similar to the Feed-In Tariffs, there are some important differences, and in particular:

• It will be paid for by the Treasury not by energy users.
• There is no ‘National Grid for Heat’ and so importing and exporting heat is not relevant.
• It will be introduced in phases, with residential schemes not eligible until Phase 2.

View our RHI Meters

RHI stands for the Renewable Heat Incentive

Offering fixed payments, currently to the non-domestic sector for renewable heat generated, RHI is a UK Government scheme designed to increase the number of renewable heat technologies.

RHI is expected to significantly contribute towards the Governments 2020 goal, which sees 12 per cent of heating being generated from renewable sources.

Domestic households are planned to become part of the scheme by Spring 2014. More information about RHI can be found here: http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-programmes/renewable-heat-incentive-rhi

Who is responsible for the scheme?

Ofgem is the body responsible for the scheme, on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change

The 3 simple steps to receiving the RHI

1. Install renewable heat systems in your home or office. Systems include solar thermal panels, biomass boilers and heat pumps.
2. Measure the heat produced by your renewable system
3. Receive your payment. The amount you receive is dependent upon the type of technology used, the size of the system and, of course, your output.

Is RHI for me?

The Renewable Heat Incentive is for any non-domestic organisation in England, Scotland and Wales. This includes industrial, commercial, public sector and not-for-profit organisations with eligible installations and producers of bio methane.

Eligible Systems

To qualify for the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme your installation must meet the outlined eligibility criteria. Please see below for a brief guide to eligibility or visit www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-programmes/renewable-heat-incentive-rhi/ for more detailed information.

The following heat and combined heat and power (CHP) technologies are RHI eligible.

• Biomass boilers (only those that can only burn biomass. Systems below 45kWth must be MCS-accredited.)
• Biogas combustion (no biogas from landfill and up to 200kWth only)
• Deep Geothermal
• Ground Source Heat Pumps (ground & water source heat pumps with coefficient of performance (COP) over 2.9.)
• Energy from biomass proportion of Municipal Solid Waste
• Solar Thermal (up to 200kWth)
• Water Source Heat Pumps (heating water)

Other factors to eligibility

• Systems must be new at the time of installation
• Systems must have been installed after 15^th July 2009
• CHP installations must have been as generating electricity prior to 15 July 2009, using solid biomass or biogas and first commission on or after 15 July 2009.
• Systems must be registered by the energy regulator Ofgem
• The applicant must be the owner of the installation
• No grants can have been received to cover any of the costs of purchase or installation.
• Applicable technologies must hold MCS certification
• Liquid or steam is the heat delivery medium

• Heat must be provided for at least one eligible heat use such as heating a space, heating water or for carrying out a process.
• The installation must not provide heating to a single domestic premises only.
• The right types of meters must be used, correctly calibrated and placed in the correct locations.
• Each technology has its own criteria which must be met.  More info can be found on the ofgem website.