Biomass technology is enjoying the highest uptake under the government’s Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), according to official figures published on Thursday.
The data shows that biomass installations accounted for 53% of new installations carried out under the domestic RHI since it was introduced in April 2014, with 3,891 systems installed. However, the technology’s dominance of the non-domestic RHI is far more pronounced, with more than 96% of all new installs carried out under the scheme biomass.
The next most deployed technology under the domestic RHI is air source heat pumps, which saw 2,000 new installs registered. Solar thermal continues to struggle to deploy at significant levels under the new subsidy scheme despite the Solar Trade Association maintaining that solar thermal under the domestic RHI represents a good investment for consumers.
The RHI has faced strong criticism from some of the industry, with the Solar Trade Association’s technical specialist, Chris Roberts critical of the level of subsidy given to biomass at the Solar Energy UK Installer Roadshow series.
