The Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme Regulations 2014

Made: 8th April 2014

Coming into force in accordance with regulation 1

In accordance with section 100(7) of that Act, the Secretary of State has obtained the consent of the Scottish Ministers to the making of these Regulations.

PART 1 — Introductory provisions

Citation and commencement

1

These Regulations may be cited as the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme Regulations 2014 and come into force on the day after the day on which they are made.

Interpretation

2

• (1) In these Regulations—

• “accreditation” means a determination by the Authority that a plant for which an accreditation application is made is an accredited domestic plant;

• “accreditation application” means an application for accreditation of a plant under regulation 17 which has not been withdrawn by the applicant;

• “accredited domestic plant” means a plant in respect of which RHI payments are payable;

• “accredited RHI installation” has the meaning given by regulation 2 of the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme Regulations 2018;

• “additional plant” means any plant which provides heat to the same RHI property as an accredited domestic plant but which is not part of that accredited domestic plant;

• “air source heat pump” means a plant which generates heat by absorbing energy stored in the form of heat in the ambient air outside a property and uses that energy to heat a liquid;

• “applicant” means a person who makes an accreditation application, an authorisation application or a registration application;

• “approved sustainable fuel” means solid biomass which is listed under a scheme approved by the Secretary of State in accordance with regulation 36E of the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme Regulations 2011 or regulation 51 of the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme Regulations 2018;

• “assessment date” means 31st January, 30th April, 31st July or 31st October in any calendar year;

• “assignment” means an arrangement under which a participant assigns their RHI payments to an NRI;

• “associated infrastructure” includes equipment installed under a metering and monitoring agreement;

• “authorisation”, in relation to a metering arrangement, means approval by the Authority of that metering arrangement under regulation 25;

• “authorisation application” means an application for authorisation of a metering arrangement under regulation 23;

• “authorised metering arrangement” means a metering arrangement which has been given authorisation;

• “biomass boiler” means a plant which—is designed and installed to burn solid biomass to provide heat;is designed to minimise direct heat loss to the immediate area in which it is installed;is not capable of providing heat to a property without using a liquid to deliver that heat; andis not designed to generate heat for the purpose of cooking food;

• “biomass plant” means a plant which is a biomass boiler or a biomass stove but not both;

• “biomass stove” means a plant which—is designed and installed to burn wood pellets to generate heat which is radiated directly into the room in which it is installed; andis not designed to generate heat for the purpose of cooking food unless it is a cooker stove;

• “central register” means the register maintained by the Authority under regulation 67;

• “certified installer” means a person who is certified by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme or a scheme—which is equivalent to the Microgeneration Certification Scheme; andunder which installers are certified to that scheme’s standards by a certification body or organisation accredited to EN 45011 or EN ISO/IEC 17065:2012;

• “code of practice” means—version O of the Home Insulation & Energy Systems Quality Assured Contractors Scheme Code of Practice published on 10th January 2022;version 7 of the Renewable Energy Consumer Code published on 31st January 2022; ora subsequent version or issue of a code mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) approved by the Secretary of State under regulation 2B(3);

• “commissioned”, in relation to a plant, means the completion of such procedures and tests as constitute, at the time they are undertaken, the usual industry standards and practices for that type of plant which demonstrate that it is capable of operating and generating heat;

• “compressor” means a mechanical device which increases the pressure of refrigerant used in a heat pump;

• “condensing plant” means a plant which is designed to use the latent heat released from the condensation of water vapour into a liquid with the resulting liquid leaving the boiler by way of a drain;

• “consumer prices index” means—the consumer prices index calculated and published by the Office of National Statistics; orwhere the index is not published for a year, any substituted index or figures published by that Office;

• “cooker stove” means a biomass stove which is capable of generating heat for the purpose of cooking food but which is designed to ensure that heat generated for that purpose is incidental to, and cannot be controlled separately from, any heat generated for the purpose of space heating or domestic hot water heating;

• “deemed annual heat generation” has the meaning given by regulation 29;

• “domestic hot water” means hot water used ... for a purpose other than space heating or heating a swimming pool;

• “domestic hot water cylinder” means a tank used to store domestic hot water;

• “domestic RHI scheme” means the scheme established by these Regulations;

• “dwelling” has the meaning given by—in relation to a property in England or Wales, regulation 2(1) of the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012[^f00006];in relation to a property in Scotland, regulation 2(1) of the Energy Performance of Buildings (Scotland) Regulations 2008[^f00007];

• “efficiency” means the ratio of the heat generated by a plant to its energy consumption;

• “eligibility criteria” has the meaning given by regulation 3;

• “eligible electricity meter” means an electricity meter which meets the relevant requirements set out in Annex 1 to the Measuring Instruments Directive, the specific requirements listed in Annex V to that Directive and the requirements for accuracy class A as defined in Annex V to that Directive;

• “eligible gas meter” means a gas meter which meets the relevant requirements set out in Annex 1 to the Measuring Instruments Directive, the specific requirements listed in Annex IV to that Directive and the requirements for accuracy class 1.5 as defined in Annex IV to that Directive;

• “eligible heat meter” means a heat meter which meets the relevant requirements set out in Annex 1 to the Measuring Instruments Directive, the specific requirements listed in Annex VI to that Directive and the requirements for accuracy class 3 as defined in Annex VI to that Directive;

• “eligible meter” means an eligible electricity meter, eligible gas meter, eligible heat meter or eligible oil meter;

• “eligible metered heat” means, in relation to an accredited domestic plant which is—a biomass plant, the figure calculated in accordance with regulation 30; ora heat pump, the figure calculated in accordance with regulation 31;

• “eligible new-build property” means a property which is supplied with heat by a plant in respect of which an accreditation application is made and where—any building that forms part of that property was built principally with the use of the labour or resources of the first owner (including where the resource was a loan which the first owner was liable to repay);the date the property was first occupied was on or after the date the plant was first commissioned; andthe property has not, while the building was built or at any subsequent time been owned wholly or partly by a person who is not an individual;

• “eligible oil meter” means an oil meter which meets the relevant requirements set out in Annex 1 to the Measuring Instruments Directive, the specific requirements listed in Annex VII to that Directive and the requirements for accuracy class 1 as defined in Annex VII to that Directive;

• “eligible property” means a property that meets the requirements set out in Schedule 3;

• “eligible purpose” means, in relation to heat generated by—a biomass plant or heat pump, the purpose of space heating, or both space heating and domestic hot water heating, for an eligible property; or a solar thermal plant, the purpose of domestic hot water heating for an eligible property, or for both an eligible property and any related property which is not a swimming pool;

• “Energy Performance Certificate” has the meaning given by—in relation to a property in England and Wales, regulation 2(1) of the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012;in relation to a property in Scotland, regulation 2(1) of the Energy Performance of Buildings (Scotland) Regulations 2008;

• “expenditure forecast statement” has the meaning given by regulation 38(1);

• “financial year” means a 12 month period commencing on 1st April and ending on the following 31st March;

• “first commissioning date” means the date on which a plant is first commissioned;

• “forecast for expenditure” has the meaning given by regulation 38(7);

• “fuel” excludes electricity;

• “grant from public funds” means a grant made by a public authority or by any person distributing funds on behalf of a public authority;

• “grant funding deduction” means the figure calculated in accordance with regulation 32;

• ...

• “Green Deal Plan” has the meaning given by section 1 of the Energy Act 2011[^f00009];

• “ground source heat pump” means a plant which generates heat by absorbing energy stored in the form of heat from the ground, including water in the ground, or surface water or both and uses that energy to heat a liquid;

• “heat emitter guide” means version 2.0 of the document entitled “Heat Emitter Guide for Domestic Heat Pumps” published on 21st November 2014;

• “heat meter” has the same meaning as that given to “thermal energy meter” in Annex VI to the Measuring Instruments Directive;

• “heat pump” means a plant which is an air source heat pump or a ground source heat pump but not both;

• “increase in expenditure forecast” has the meaning given by regulation 38(7);

• “initial tariff” means the tariff for an accredited domestic plant for all or part of its initial tariff period, calculated in accordance with regulation 34;

• “initial tariff period” means the period commencing on a plant’s tariff start date and ending on the following 31st March;

• “installation capacity” means the total installed peak heat output capacity of a plant;

• “investor” means a person who provides funding in relation to any of the cost of the purchase or installation of a plant in return for RHI payments and enters into a contract with an applicant or participant in respect of such arrangement, or a person who intends to do so;

• “investor application” means an application made under regulation 22A which has not been withdrawn;

• “investor registration” means the entry of an investor’s details on the central register under regulation 22C(2)(a);

• “kWh” means kilowatt hour;

• “landlord” means a person who owns a property (solely or together with one or more other owners) but does not occupy that property;

• “local authority” means a local authority within the meaning given in section 106 of the Localism Act 2011[^f00011] or a council constituted under section 2 of the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994[^f00012];

• “MCS register” means the register maintained by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme, or an equivalent scheme under which installers are certified to that scheme’s standards by a certification body or organisation accredited to EN 45011 or EN ISO/IEC 17065:2012, of installers and plant which are certified under that scheme;

• “measuring instrument” means an eligible meter, a temperature sensor, or any equipment which records information used to determine the efficiency of a biomass plant;

• “Measuring Instruments Directive” means Directive 2014/32/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to the making available on the market of measuring instruments (recast);

• “metering and monitoring agreement” means an agreement which meets the requirements set out in Schedule 7;

• “metering and monitoring biomass boiler” means a biomass boiler which is an accredited domestic plant and is designed and installed to burn only wood pellets;

• “metering and monitoring installer” means a certified installer who has entered into a metering and monitoring agreement with a participant;

• “metering and monitoring lump sum payment” means a single payment of—£700 for a metering and monitoring biomass boiler; or£805 for a heat pump which is an accredited domestic plant;

• “metering and monitoring payment” means—in respect of a registration given before the third relevant date, one or more payments totalling—£200 during a 12 month period for a metering and monitoring biomass boiler; or£230 during a 12 month period for a heat pump which is an accredited domestic plant;in respect of a registration given on or after the third relevant date, one or more payments totalling—£100 during a 12 month period for a metering and monitoring biomass boiler; or£115 during a 12 month period for a heat pump which is an accredited domestic plant;

• “metering arrangement” means a document which identifies the location and type of each eligible meter positioned in accordance with paragraph (3) or (4) of regulation 15 or paragraph (3), (4) or (5) of regulation 16;

• “metering requirements” has the meaning given by regulation 14(1)(a);

• “metering statement” means a written statement provided by the Authority which contains the information specified in regulation 21(1)(f);

• “MM payments” means a metering and monitoring lump sum payment or metering and monitoring payments, or both;

• “NRI” has the meaning given in regulation 22E(3);

• “NOx” means oxides of nitrogen;

• “on-board meter” means an electricity meter which is integrated into a heat pump and is able to display the electricity consumption of that heat pump in kWh;

• “ongoing obligations” means the obligations specified in Part 7 or Part 7A, as applicable;

• “original plant” means an accredited domestic plant which is replaced by another plant;

• “participant” means the owner of an accredited domestic plant or, where there is more than one owner, the owner who has provided to the Authority under regulation 17(2)(g) or regulation 48(2) or (9) evidence that they have the authority to act on behalf of all owners;

• “properly made” in relation to an application means—in the case of an application made under regulation 17, an application which provides the information required by regulation 17(2) and (3);in the case of an application made under regulation 22A, an application which provides the information required by regulation 22A(2); andin the case of an application made under regulation 50, an application which provides the information required by regulation 50(2);

• “PM” means particulate matter;

• “quarterly period” means the first, second, third or fourth quarter of—the period of 12 months which commences on a tariff start date; andeach subsequent period of 12 months;

• “recommendation report” has the meaning given by—in relation to a property in England or Wales, regulation 4(1) of the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012[^f00014];in relation to a property in Scotland, the definition of a “recommendations report” in regulation 2(1) of the Energy Performance of Buildings (Scotland) Regulations 2008;

• “registered metering and monitoring agreement” means a metering and monitoring agreement which has been given registration under regulation 52;

• “registration” , except in the term “investor registration", means the entry of a metering and monitoring agreement on the central register under regulation 52;

• “registration application” means an application for registration under regulation 50;

• “related property”, in relation to an eligible property, means any building or swimming pool which is used by, or available for the use of, an owner or occupier of the eligible property and where the building or swimming pool—if the property is an RHI property, is not covered by the relevant EPC; orin any other case, is not covered by the most recent Energy Performance Certificate for which details have been provided to the Authority;

• “relevant date” means the date on which these Regulations come into force;

• “relevant EPC” means—on the date on which an accredited domestic plant providing heat to an RHI property is given accreditation, the most recent Energy Performance Certificate for that property for which details have been provided to the Authority; orif, after the date on which an accredited domestic plant providing heat to an RHI property is given accreditation, the Authority has requested a new Energy Performance Certificate for that property, the most recent Energy Performance Certificate for that property for which details have been provided to the Authority pursuant to such a request;

• “relevant installation standard” has the meaning given by regulation 8(2);

• “replacement plant” means a plant which is installed in place of an original plant and uses the same sources of energy as the original plant;

• “retail prices index” means—the general index of retail prices (for all items) published by the Office of National Statistics; orwhere the index is not published for a calendar year, any substituted index or figures published by that Office;

• “RHI date” means, where an accreditation application is made in respect of a plant which is—not a replacement plant, the date on which that application is made or the date when all of the information set out in Part 1 of Schedule 4 that is relevant to, and submitted as part of, that application is given to the Authority, whichever is the earlier; ora replacement plant, the RHI date that is specified in the statement of eligibility for the original plant;