The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has published the latest figured for the domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).
The stats shows that 7,418 applications were made to the scheme between April 2014 and July 2014. The breakdown between technologies can be seen in the chart below:
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Commenting on the figures, Tim Pollard, Plumb and Parts Center’s head of sustainability said that, despite it being “very early days” for the domestic RHI the figures made for “interesting reading”.
He explained: “The initiative is the first of its kind in the world, so a lot of people will be keeping a close eye on how it progresses…but even in this short period of time there’s a lot we can read into.”
“One of the most interesting things for installers is the type of technology that people are installing. If we look at the non-domestic RHI figure, which has been running for longer, a big majority (93%) of applications are for biomass boilers.
“The domestic RHI figures however, show 37% of people are applying for payments for an air source heat pump. The next most popular is solar thermal (25%), then biomass systems (22%) and ground source heat pumps (16%).
“Although it’s important to note that these figures include legacy applications (those fitted before the official start of the scheme and after July 2009). It’s interesting to look at the breakdown of new applications, which shows biomass (43%), air source heat pump (32%), solar thermal (20%) and ground-source heat pump (5%).”
Pollard also said that the geographical data behind the domestic RHI provides an interesting insight for installers. He notes that off-grid areas have led the charge for renewable heat installations with Scotland and South West leading the pack.
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