Incentives for Renewable Energy

The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI)

The domestic RHI was closed to new applicants in March 2022.

This support has been replaced by the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS). This can support installations of heat pumps or biomass systems where heat pumps are unsuitable.

Different to the RHI, this grant is paid as a voucher at the point of installation and the amount is the same for every installation, regardless of type or size.

The Smart Export Guarantee (SEG)

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy introduced SEG in place of the Feed-In-Tariff (which closed in April 2019). This guarantee pays households for any excess renewable electricity they generate but do not use.

Medium to large energy suppliers have to provide at least one export tariff to its domestic customers. However, smaller energy suppliers such as Social Energy provide payment for exporting solar energy. The exported power must be metered, with a meter capable of reporting exports on half hourly basis.

Eligilbity for SEG

For the resident to receive payments for their exports from the supplier providing the SEG tariff then they must meet the eligibility criteria, these are on the Ofgem website.

Resident should be aware that if they are currently in receipt of government support through the FiT scheme for existing systems then they will be ineligible for the SEG for the same system.

It should be noted that if a resident has an old/existing installation in place that receives FiT payments and then invests in a new eligible installation, they could receive SEG payments for this new eligible installation because it is separate to the old/existing system and this new system is not in receipt of FiT payments.

Residents in receipt of RHI payments for technology such as solar thermal systems air/ground source heat pumps will not prevent an installation of technology such as solar photovoltaic, nor from registering for the SEG and receiving SEG payments.

Residents that utilise storage devices can store their electricity from on-site generation (‘green electricity’) and can sell back when demand is higher to their supplier, generators can also do this with electricity from the grid (‘brown electricity’).

For more information, please visit our news atricle: Out with the Feed in Tariff, in with the Smart Export Guarantee, or Energy Saving Trust website.