FAQs
Is the RHI a grant scheme?
No; it is a tariff scheme, making regular payments for every kilowatt hour of heat produced by the system.
The government believes that this income stream should enable the system owners to finance the upfront capital costs and (within limits) we agree with them.
Chapter 2 of the government's RHI announcement says
Financing
RHI tariff support will be delivered in the form of payments made over a number of years rather than as an upfront payment.
Options for financing the cost of installations will therefore be an important issue for those considering a switch to renewable heat. A number of stakeholders have highlighted this as a problem, that even if a business or organisation wanted to take part in the scheme, they could not raise the initial capital cost. We accept that this could sometimes be an issue, however, we expect the RHI will stimulate the market to provide a number of different financing options, which could cover both the capital costs and ongoing operational costs for the lifetime of the installation.
