The Renewable Heat Incentive has failed to meet objectives or provide value for money for the £23 billion cost to taxpayers – this is the conclusion of the Public Accounts Committee in a recently published report – and the Association of Plumbing & Heating Contractors (APHC) has gone on record to agree with the finding.

The RHI was launched in April 2014 to encourage uptake of renewable heat technologies amongst householders, communities and businesses through financial incentives.

CEO of APHC, John Thompson, comments: “The problem in my view is with the high cost of capital outlay for renewable and low-carbon technologies, especially when compared to gas and oil boilers which provide a far lower initial capital outlay. This is undoubtedly leading people to choose gas and oil boilers over renewable and low-carbon alternatives.”

He also believes that the Government did not consider the reasons why gas boilers are replaced, which is often the result of a breakdown or when the homeowner renovates their property.

“This has meant the Government vastly overestimated forecasts for the uptake of renewable and low-carbon technologies, as in nearly four years just 60,000 renewable appliances have been installed under RHI, which compares to 6.2 million gas boilers installed over the same period.”

As a result, the Department has had to cut back its expectations of how much renewable heat will be produced by the scheme by almost two-thirds, and of the reductions in carbon emissions due to the scheme by almost half.

“Projected funding of the scheme has also been cut from £47 billion to £23 billion and now expects to install 111,000 heating systems as part of RHI rather than the original projected figure of 513,000,” adds John Thompson. “In order to meet their revised expectations, the purchase price of renewable technologies needs to be lower, or the Government needs to subsidise the initial capital outlay.

“Additionally, the over burdensome nature of the installer accreditation scheme is limiting the uptake by the smaller plumbing and heating companies, and sadly with the Each Home Counts proposals, it doesn’t appear that this is going to be addressed.

“Finally, looking to the future the government needs to confirm what will follow when the current RHI funding ends on 31 March 2021, as our industry needs certainty in order to plan ahead.”

The House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts report can be read in full here.