Heating industry insiders are concerned that the Renewable Heat Premium Payment could be in danger of running out of funds, as well as creating a stop-start renewables installation programme.
Despite receiving a warm welcome from the majority of the heating industry, that’s the concern expressed by Worcester, Bosch Group, who fear that the scheme is at risk of encountering a mad rush for registrations before the money allotted runs out.
The Renewable Heat Premium Payment (RHPP) initiative offers one-off grants which will enable people to invest in renewable sources of heating technology. £15 million has been set aside to support the deployment of around 25,000 renewable heat generators.
According to the Energy Saving Trust – who are administering the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), since the initiative was announced on 21 July, some 2,700 households had already expressed an interest in applying for grants the day after the scheme officially launched, on 1 August.
Neil Schofield, head of external and governmental affairs at Worcester, Bosch Group, said that while they welcomed the RHPP, they believe there is a danger that the £15 million the Government has set aside is in danger of running out well before the March 2012 deadline, when the scheme closes.
“We are in danger of engendering a mad rush for registrations before the money runs out, a situation we found quite frequently some years ago when the grants for solar installations were in place and the money was frequently all claimed on the first day,” Mr Schofield explained.
Mr Schofield said he was concerned that an onrush of people requesting installations could result in good installers not being able to provide the swift turnaround needed, which would leave the not so good installers to pick up the work.
“With a six month delay built-in from October to March next year, we also risk a stop-start approach to installations which will make it very difficult for installers, particularly those who are basing a large percentage of their business around renewable technologies,” he added.
The whole series of delays, changes and lack of information has been a total mess.
The Government have shown yet again a total lack of understanding of how small businesses need certainty to plan.
What a shambles!