A two-month delay to the planned launch of the government’s Renewable Heat Incentive scheme is extremely disappointing, the NFU has said.
Suppliers and customers have expressed their astonishment that Friday’s planned launch was postponed at only 12 hours’ notice. The start date for the RHI has been put back again and again since details were announced in March this year.
Intended to revolutionise the way heat is generated and used in Britain, this key policy measure is meant to sit alongside incentives for renewable electricity and transport fuels, enabling the UK to meet its European obligations by 2020 under the Renewable Energy Directive.
The RHI is the first scheme of its type in the world and many other countries are watching the UK closely to evaluate its success and determine whether it can be replicated elsewhere.
NFU chief renewable energy and climate change adviser, Dr Jonathan Scurlock, said: “Farmers and growers expecting to benefit from supplying heat using biomass boilers, solar water heating and ground source heat pumps will be disheartened at this dramatic setback to their business plans.”
The Department for Energy and Climate Change has attributed the last-minute postponement to its failure to obtain State Aids clearance from the European Commission.
Dr Scurlock added: “The UK government has repeatedly put off the implementation of the RHI, resulting in potential customers holding off purchasing decisions and technology providers hesitating in investing in the supply chain. So far, this has achieved the opposite of what the RHI was intended to do, which was to stimulate the market for renewable heating.
“Investor confidence has been dented by the lack of details on scheme operation, on top of confusing government signals about its commitment to other renewable energy incentives such as the Feed-in Tariffs and Renewables Obligation.”
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