Renewable Heat Incentive reveals lower than expected funding

Funding for solar thermal technology will be much lower than expected after the government released details of the Renewable Heat Incentive, a package of payments designed to stimulate sustainable heating sources.

Last Thursday the department of energy and climate change announced that solar thermal panels would receive 8.5p per kilowatt in subsidies, down from 17-18p, which had been proposed in the Renewable Heat Incentive consultation in 2010.

There was also no funding for air source heat pumps, which are manufactured by firms including Mitsubishi, despite a tariff being proposed in the 2010 consultation.

Paul Steen, a sustainability associate at Ramboll, said that tariffs for biomethane heating were about 50% higher than expected.

Tariffs for non-domestic buildings will be available from July 2011.

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