One of the UK’s largest domestic heating manufacturers has expressed that the Government’s much anticipated Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) has left more questions than it has given answers.
Plans for the RHI incentive were unveiled by Energy Secretary Chris Huhne on Thursday.
Neil Schofield, head of government and external affairs at Worcester, Bosch Group commented: “We welcome any initiative that attempts to bring the benefits of renewable heat generation to greater numbers of people, but the announcement focuses very firmly on the industrial, commercial and public sectors.
“There are a number of questions yet to be answered for the domestic sector which leaves the picture confused.”
He continued: “The fact that mainstream households will not be able to access RHI until October 2012 has led the Government to try and bridge the gap with the RHI Premium Payment, but we will not get details on this until May 2011.
“My take on it is that there is going to be some sort of grant subsidy made available for those who want to install now.
“In particular, the information on payments is vague as is the criteria by which a property will be deemed to be of sufficient standard to qualify for the RHI.
“My suspicion is that it will be Band D properties and above, but we need more information.
“The RHI, as it stands, appears to be focused on non-domestic heating, early adopters and those off the mains gas network, which leaves questions about how we will encourage mass uptake.
“In summation, whilst we welcome this it does not feel like a game-changer.”
