The recent Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) review announcement has been largely welcomed by the renewable energy sector.
The new guidance, which maps out regulation for resetting RHI tariff levels until 2020/21, will mostly come into effect from spring 2017.
It contains some encouraging signals for the industry that the government hopes will ease the process of securing development capital for larger scale sites.
But there are still some grey areas. Farmers are eager to find out how the changes will affect their installations and future investment opportunities.
Lucy Hopwood from the National Non-Food Crops Centre (NNFCC) says: “The reforms offer a glimmer of hope for the bioenergy sectors and it’s pleasing to see so many industry-asks have been taken on-board,” says Lucy.
“However, there are still evident risks and the question is now how long the positivity may last as the introduction of tariff guarantees and resetting of tariffs may appear to be good news but the reality is the more successful the industry from early next year, the quicker the tariffs will reduce and the greater the risk becomes of early scheme closure,” she adds.
Charlotte Morton from the ADBA, although positive, also has some reservations: "We are pleased to see that tariff levels have been reset – this should support higher levels of deployment. We do not believe, however, that the restrictions on feedstock for new plants, which could have unintended consequences, are justified.
“The introduction of tariff guarantees is extremely welcome and we will continue to work with the UK Government and with our members to ensure the UK AD industry keeps growing and reaches its full potential – for example by calling for urgent action on food waste collections in England.”
