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The Government issues response to RHI consultation on eligible heat.

The Government issues response to RHI consultation on eligible heat.

31 January 2018

The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy has published the Government response to chapter 2 of the consultation on eligible heat uses within the Non-Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive. A summary of the outcome is provided below:

Summary of changes

- The Government does not intend to remove all drying practices as eligible heat uses

The Government will:

- Remove wood-fuel drying as an eligible heat use other than where the renewable heat installation is replacing a fossil fuel heat source. A transition period will be included to allow wood-fuel drying plant that are in development to be accredited;

- Remove the drying, cleaning or processing of waste as an eligible heat use;

- Further tighten the eligibility of swimming pools so that only swimming pools that are used for a municipal or commercial purpose receive Non-domestic RHI support;

- Make installations where heat is produced predominantly for a single domestic premises ineligible under the Non-domestic RHI.

The changes will be applicable to new applicants only, not existing RHI participants. Although they will apply for existing participants who add capacity or where a participant otherwise begins to use heat generated by the installation for an ineligible heat use on or after the date the reforms come into effect, currently anticipated for spring 2018.

There will be a six-month transition period for wood-fuel drying plants that are demonstrably already in development at the point the Government response is published - this does not apply to cleaning or processing of waste.

The Government also intends to introduce further evidence requirements to ensure that Non-domestic RHI applicants have a genuine, economically justifiable use for the heat they propose generating. This will not be included with this implementation, but plans are to introduce further changes in future.

The full consultation response is available here