Government scheme has supported vital growth of renewable heat sector

• Public Accounts Committee report on Renewable Heat Incentive assess value for money
• The successful scheme supports significant renewable heat deployment
• Scheme is a critical policy tool that supports heat sector decarbonisation in line with the UK’s climate targets

Commenting on the PAC report on the Renewable Heat Incentive, Frank Aaskov, Policy Analyst at the Renewable Energy Association, said:
“The UK’s Renewable Heat Incentive has successfully supported the uptake of over 80,000 low-carbon installations and established an innovative industry employing over 33,500 across the country. The RHI was a world first and has been critical to kick-starting the UK’s decarbonisation of its heat supply.

“The scheme could have been more accessible to consumers if payments had been upfront rather than spread over 7 to 20 years, however, the Government is implementing new policy for consumers to access the RHI with little or no upfront cost this spring.

“It is now crucial that the Government confirms what will follow in the 2020s, when the RHI funding ends, as the industry needs clarity so it can plan ahead.”

Crucially to date the RHI has:

• supported the delivery of 81,155 renewable heat installations across the UK (as of March 2018)
• supported the production of 24.4TWh of renewable heat to date, enough to heat over 1,800,000 UK homes for an entire year
• enabled new low carbon job creation, as the renewable heat industry, ranging from biomass to green gas and biomethane, presently employs almost 33,500 people across the UK

—ENDS—

For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

Mark Hofman
External Affairs Manager
+44 (0)20 7981 0862
[email protected]

Notes to editors

• The Public Accounts Committee report is available here: https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/public-accounts-committee/news-parliament-2017/renewable-heat-incentive-report-published-17-19/ 
• Employment data can be found in the REA’s publication REView 2017 here: http://www.r-e-a.net/upload/final_low_res_renewable_energy_view_-_review_2017.pdf 
• RHI deployment statistics can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/renewable-heat-incentive-statistics 

About the Renewable Energy Association (REA)

The Renewable Energy Association represents renewable energy producers and promotes the use of all forms of renewable energy in the UK across power, heat, transport and recycling. It is the largest renewable energy and clean technology (including energy storage and electric vehicles) trade association in the UK, with around 550 members, ranging from major multinationals to sole traders.