Changes to the Non-Domestic RHI regulations (July 2015) – biomethane degression and rejection provision

Guidance

Publication date

Scheme name

Non-Domestic RHI

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has made a number of changes to the Non-Domestic RHI regulations; the changes come into force on 27th July, except those relating to MCS standards (see below), which come into force on 26th September 2015. Please see the Ministerial Statement from DECC and contact them for any policy queries.

The changes are summarised below:

  • Adjustments are made to the degression calculations for biomethane.
  • Explicit provision has been added for Ofgem to be able to reject an application if further information that has been required in order to determine an application has not been provided within the specified time period. The time period will ordinarily be 12 weeks but may be longer if considered appropriate by Ofgem.
  • Minor amendments have been made to correct the sustainability requirements introduced in the February amendments and which are due to come into force on 5 October 2015. These correct the definition of sustainable biomethane and land criteria, and amend the reporting requirements for CHP installations reporting under the Renewables Obligation (RO).
  • Updates to the relevant MCS standards have been made, but these won’t come into force until 26 September 2015. Some of these changes relate to new rules regarding heat pump labelling and testing in line with the Energy-related Products Directive (ErP).  Further details are available in the DECC publication.