Tag: RHI

REA RHI Roadshow

Posted on by Alun

Renewable Energy AssociationThe Renewable Energy Association (REA) will be running a series of seminars to explain how the domestic Renewable Heat Incentive can help you, whether you are a company planning to supply or install the eligible technologies, a building service engineer, a social landlord, a heating consultant or anyone wandering exactly how the scheme works.

How can the Renewable Heat Incentive benefit my business? (Birmingham)

This seminar takes place in Birmingham on Wednesday 25th June and will be followed by a number of regional events, with dates to be announced.

Everything you need to know about the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI):

  • How it works?
  • What systems are eligible?
  • What are the business opportunities and a whole lot more . . .

The introduction of the domestic Renewable Heat Incentive on 9th April 2014 for the first time allows householders to be paid for generating heat from renewable sources. As a result we expect a significant upturn in the demand for renewable heat systems leading to a rapid expansion of the supply chain.

The first REA event will take place in Birmingham where you will learn key aspects of the policy including an overview of the technologies covered and how the policy will support their growth.

Speakers include those implementing the scheme from DECC, Ofgem, MCS and RECC as well as industry experts who will be highlighting the opportunities and sharing their insights into what the policy means for the sector.

This event is a must for anybody active in the renewable heat sector, equipment suppliers and their supply chain, heat appliance installers, building energy consultants, social landlords and anyone else who is thinking about the new opportunities the scheme provides.

Programme

09.30 – 10.00 Registration
10.00 – 10.10 Introduction Mike Landy, REA
10.10 – 10.30 Overview of and background to the Domestic RHI Lucy Longstaff, DECC
10.30 – 10.55 The RHI application procedure. Ofgem’s role and guidance Keith Horgan, Ofgem
10.55 – 11.10 Changes to MCS to accommodate the Domestic RHI (standards, compliance certificates, competency requirements, size limits, etc.) Gideon Richard, MCS
11.10 – 11.20 Open discussion / questions
11.20 – 11.40 Break
11.40 – 12.05 Opportunities for biomass and heat pumps in the Domestic RHI David Rae, Innasol
12.05 – 12.25 Opportunities for solar thermal in the Domestic RHI Stuart Elmes, Viridian
12.25 – 12.45 Ensuring protection for the Domestic RHI consumer Virginia Graham, RECC
12.45 – 13.00 Open discussion / questions
13.00 – 13.30 Lunch

Costings are as follows:

REA Members £150 + VAT
RECC Members £170 + VAT
REA Non Members £200 + VAT

You can book online now or download a booking form on the REA website.

REA was established in 2001 as a not-for-profit trade association, representing British renewable energy producers and promoting the use of renewable energy in the UK. REA helps our members build commercially and environmentally sustainable businesses whilst increasing the contribution of renewable energy to the UK’s electricity, heat, transport and green gas needs. Find out more by visiting the REA website.

Biomass Suppliers List Launched

Posted on by Alun

Register your biomass fuel as sustainable

From today, woodfuel suppliers will be able to register their fuels as sustainable by applying to the Biomass Suppliers List (BSL). This is a first for the UK biomass sector and a major milestone in ensuring biomass supported under the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) is sustainable.

The BSL will help develop the growing market for renewable heat providing opportunities throughout the supply chain.

Producers and traders of woodfuel who wish to access the growing RHI market can apply for free to the BSL [www.gov.uk/register-biomass-supplier][1]. Small and micro enterprises will be able to use a new simple carbon calculator developed to make the process as easy as possible for small businesses.

Larger enterprises will be able to use the UK Solid and Gaseous Biomass and Biogas Carbon Calculator [www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/uk-solid-and-gaseous-biomass-carbon-calculator] to calculate the GHG emissions associated with their fuel. Individuals and businesses that self-supply their own fuel are also encouraged to register as ‘self-supplier’[2] as soon as possible.

From Autumn 2014 all biomass fuel used by households, businesses and other organisations claiming the RHI must meet a lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions target of 60 per cent and GHG savings against the EU fossil fuel average.[3]

The BSL was developed and will be run by Gemserv, partnering with Woodsure, HETAS and Borough IT.

For support on applications you can contact Gemserv. Click here for contact details.

 Notes

[1] Producers and producer-traders should apply as early as possible. Traders may wish to encourage their producers to apply to the list before making their own applications, as this is likely to make it easier for traders to apply.

[2] RHI participants will be able to register on the Biomass Suppliers List (BSL) as a ‘self-supplier’ if their installation is less than 1MWth capacity, and if they source fuel from the same estate as the boiler. Self-suppliers will also be able to source waste woodfuel from outside their estate for use in their installation. For the purposes of self-supply in the BSL, an estate comprises the buildings and supporting land and woods that is owned by, or has the legal rights to source from, one person, a family, an organisation, a single farm business or a commercial business. The land and buildings may or may not be contiguous but should be within reasonable distance of the boiler. A reasonable distance is defined as follows: the biomass source must be within 50 miles of the boiler.

[3] The public facing list of authorised fuels will be made available to consumers once a sufficient proportion of traders have registered their fuels and their applications have been processed. We expect this to be later this Spring, although it will depend on the rate and distribution of applications, and will ensure the public facing List is made available sufficiently ahead of the regulations coming into force.

RHI Emissions Certificates

Posted on by Alun

RHI EC ListIn March 2011 the Government published its policy for the non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), including the intention to introduce air quality emission limits for biomass boilers (including CHP) that participate in the scheme. Proposed limits were first published for consultation in 2010. These limits were confirmed with the maximum permitted emissions being 30 grams per gigajoule (g/GJ) net heat input for particulate matter and 150g/GJ for NOx.

To be eligible for both the domestic and non-domestic schemes, biomass products must comply with emissions limits as outlined above. Evidence of compliance must be in the form of a vaild emissions certificate. Alternatively, for the non-domestic RHI, an environmental permit for the site is allowed.

A dedicated website of products that are covered by RHI emissions certificates is now available at rhieclist.org.uk. The website is administered by HETAS. Contact HETAS for further guidance on Air Quality Requirements and EC-Listing on rhiec@hetas.co.uk or call 01684 278170.

Ofgem, the scheme administrator for both the domestic and non-domestic RHI has produced a template emissions certiifcate which can be used for both schemes, but will be assessed separately against the requirement of each scheme. These templates are available at rhieclist.org.uk/apply-for-listing. Alternatively, contact HETAS for further guidance.

If your product is not already covered by a vaild RHI emissions certifcate you should:

  1. View the template certificate and read the guidance – rhieclist.org.uk/apply-for-listing
  2. Arrange for an authorised testing laboratory to perform the required assessment of your product
  3. Ensure the testing laboratory completes the template emissions certificate in accordance with the guidance set out on it

With the domestic RHI due to be launched over the coming week the Department of Energy & Climate Change, Ofgem and HETAS are urging manufacturers to get their certificates sorted now. At present, only around 25 manufacturers have their appliances listed on the RHI EC website. Please contact HETAS for further guidance on Air Quality Requirements and EC-Listing on rhiec@hetas.co.uk or call 01684 278170.

 

Is your insurance ready for the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI)?

Posted on by Alun

You may have read Greg Barker’s “tweet” announcing the long awaited launch of the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI). The launch is due to go ahead this Easter and is set to have a resounding effect on the heating industry.

Are you thinking of diversifying your business to become installers of biomass systems by going through the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) accreditation? If so, then you’ll have a mixture of technical knowledge and practical confidence to provide householders with the advice they need to take informed decisions about entering into the Domestic RHI. As such, there are several aspects of insurance cover that you need to keep in mind.

In addition to the usual Public and Employer’s Liability insurances then you must ensure that your Professional Indemnity (PI) cover is adequate and up to date.

As MCS installers, your work centres on offering advice and providing reports.  Should any calculations or recommendations you provide be incorrect you could suffer serious financial consequences if you lack the correct levels of insurance cover. Typical tradesmen insurance policies may not automatically include professional indemnity cover. If this is the case then you need to make sure that you have a sufficient level of cover in place separately. Its key here to ensure this extends to include feasibility studies and calculations as these are the main risks you’re likely to encounter. We recommended that you set at least a £500,000 limit on your policy to cover.

You won’t qualify for the Domestic RHI without having undertaken a Green Deal Assessment in the first place, so if you are undertaking Green Deal Assessments then you must make sure you have the correct professional indemnity insurance in place. Likewise if you partner with a Green Deal Assessor, to undertake the assessment, then they will need to have their own professional indemnity insurance.

For more information on professional indemnity insurances or to request a quotation please contact HETAS Insurance Services or call the team on 08455 085 734.

Condensing Biomass Boilers qualify for domestic RHI

Posted on by Alun

mcs_logoThe Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) has announced that condensing biomass boilers will be eligible for the domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) which is due to launch in spring 2014.

The final domestic RHI policy was published in July 2013 and biomass boilers were initially excluded from the policy. This decision was subject to the result of tests being undertaken on behalf of the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) to assess the potential impact on water quality of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs*) being emitted in the condensate of this type of boiler. Defra has now confirmed that while a small amount of PAHs are released in the condensate from condensing biomass  boilers the levels should not pose a significant threat to the aquatic environment once they have been through waste water treatment.

As a result the Government are content to extend the domestic RHI eligibility to condensing biomass boilers, provided they meet the other criteria of the scheme. This will apply to eligible condensing biomass boilers installed between 15th July 2009 and the launch of the scheme in spring 2014 and those installed after the launch of the scheme. HETAS has been instrumental in providing support to both DECC, Defra and appliance manufacturers during the research period. HETAS provide Microgeneration Certification product approval for biomass appliances. To find out more about the policy changes or to enquire about product approval with HETAS, please contact Brian Bailey on mcsproduct@hetas.co.uk, or call 01242 682042.MCSProduct PD

You can find MCS biomass products approved by HETAS using the search facility at https://www.hetas.co.uk/find-appliance

To read the full article please visit the DECC website by clicking here.

*PAHs are products of incomplete fuel burning and are categorised as priority hazardous substances under the EU Water Framework Directive.

 

 

Air Quality Regulations for non domestic RHI

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HETAS HIGHLIGHTS NEW AIR QUALITY REGULATIONS

HETAS is alerting installers and specifiers to changes in air quality regulations which affect biomass applications for the non domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI). From September 24th 2013 applications for a biomass boiler will need to have either a RHI emission certificate or an environmental permit demonstrating low particulate and nitrous oxide (NOx) emissions. Since the non domestic Renewable Heat Incentive was launched, the majority of funding has been allocated to biomass installations, with commercial users reaping the benefits of using biomass as a low carbon fuel.

The criteria for the RHI emission certificate is a maximum of 30 grams per gigajoule (g/GJ) net heat input for particulate matter, and 150 g/GJ for NOx (expressed as NO2). If the biomass boiler does not have a RHI emission certificate then an environmental permit from the Environment Agency is required. Biomass boilers that do not have a RHI emission certificate or an environmental permit will be ineligible for the non domestic RHI. Applications before that date don’t need to meet the air quality requirements, but applications for additional boiler capacity after 24th September will need to meet the new standards.

End users must make sure they use the correct fuel as specified in the emission certificate. Fuel quality is paramount, and moisture content has the biggest effect on heat output as any water in the fuel has to evaporate away before the wood or biomass will burn, using up energy and reducing the amount of useful heat as opposed to steam up the chimney. For installations using wood pellets the European ENplus standard ensures fuel quality with minimum standards for ash content, ash melting temperature, wood pellet size, dust, moisture content and heat output. HETAS is approved as the UK certification body for ENplus by the European Pellet Council (EPC), and is able to certificate both producers and traders under the ENplus scheme.

HETAS is the only dedicated competent persons scheme for the solid fuel and biomass industry, and operates a Microgeneration Certification Scheme for biomass and solar thermal installers along with an appliance approval scheme for biomass appliances. They also run a fuel quality scheme along with Woodsure, with full details available on the HETAS website.

RHI Announcement

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HETAS welcomes domestic RHI tariff announcement

mcsHETAS has welcomed the latest announcements by the government on the long awaited Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI). Chief executive Bruce Allen said ‘we’re delighted to see that the tariffs for biomass, solar and heat pumps have been announced, which means that people can now get a clearer picture of what financial incentives will be available. We’re also pleased that spring 2014 is the target date for implementing the RHI, but we would really like to see a firm date set for when the scheme will start.’

Under the RHI, householders could receive hundreds of pounds a year for using biomass boilers, solar thermal panels or heat pumps. The tariff levels for biomass boilers have been set at 12.2p/kWh, and households will be paid on a quarterly basis for seven years based on the estimated heat demand of the property. A Green Deal assessment is required, and installers must be MCS certified or equivalent.

As the dedicated competent persons scheme for the solid fuel and biomass industry, HETAS is working with OFGEM as part of the RHI industry advisory group in order to provide support for an effective scheme. HETAS already offers MCS installer training for biomass and registration for biomass and solar thermal installers and also runs an MCS scheme for biomass product approval. The HETAS biomass training course is mapped against national occupational standards and is designed to meet the future requirements of competent persons, MCS, Green Deal and RHI.

Our dedicated MCS team is available to discuss the latest RHI announcement and the impact this could have on your business. Please use the following contacts:

Installer Enquiries

Phone: 01242 681907 Email: mcsinstaller@hetas.co.uk

Product Enquiries

Phone: 01242 682042 Email: mcsproduct@hetas.co.uk