Yesterday (2 May) the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) invited social housing landlords to bid for funding to install renewable heating technologies as part of a £6 million extension to the Renewable Heat Incentive Premium Payment scheme (RHPP).
The aim of the competition is to encourage social housing landlords to do their bit to help their tenants reduce their energy bills by installing low carbon renewable heating technologies such as biomass boilers, air source and ground source heat pumps and solar water heating. To date over 100 social landlords have benefited from more than £13 million of funding as part of the Government’s renewable heat competition.
Commenting on the opportunity the new £6million competition, which forms part of the RHPP scheme that was extended back in March, presents to social housing landlords, Energy and Climate Change minister Greg Barker said: “This new investment in renewable heat projects will enable social landlords across Great Britain to get innovative renewable heating kit into the homes of their social tenants. This will help save money on energy bills and provide low carbon alternatives to traditional heating systems.”
The competition will see two bidding windows, with a pot of £3 million set aside for each. The first window will be aimed at social housing landlords who are in a relatively advanced position, with projects already in the pipeline. The second window is targeted at landlords who require more support to develop their proposals and make a formal application. The first window of opportunity will close on June 28, so time is of the essence if you want to apply. The second window will remain open until September 27.
A panel consisting of industry experts will cast their eyes over the bids, taking into consideration the cost effectiveness of each project, what fuel is being replaced and any extra measures being introduced to tackle energy inefficiency.
If you’re a social landlord and you’ve already been allocated money from earlier rounds of the RHPP you can still make an application for additional funding for any new renewable heating projects you have in the pipeline.
Visit the Renewable Heat Premium Payment page at www.energysavingtrust.org.uk for more information or to apply.
