Tony Bowen, president of the HPA, said: “This is a clear demonstration of the commitment and resolve of Trade Associations including the HPA to work with DECC for the continued development and extension of the RHI schemes, in this particular case non domestic.
“We shall continue our work post launch with both DECC and OFGEM to further extend and improve both the domestic & non domestic schemes.”
The REA & STA have also welcomed increased tariffs and the inclusion of new technologies.
Stuart Elmes, chair of the STA Solar Thermal Working Group, said: “The extra support for solar heating means that the economics will now stack up for more projects. More swimming pools, sports centres, food factories and hospitals will now be able to afford year-round heating from the sun. We have also proposed that future improvements should include front-loading RHI payments for solar into the first seven years, as with the domestic scheme, to help businesses get over payback hurdles.”
Commenting on the two year campaign to have A2W heat pumps included, SEA chief executive Dave Sowden, said: “The introduction of new technologies and increases to various tariffs are to be welcomed for a number of reasons. We are particularly pleased with the introduction of air to water heat pumps, and the improvements to the ground source heat pump tariffs, as these follow significant efforts by the industry in building a strong case for these changes, and a willingness on the part of the Minister and his officials to listen and adopt early changes where a strong case exists for doing so.”
Clyde MacVeigh, marketing director at Dimplex Renewables, said: “The improvements to the non domestic RHI scheme are good news for both renewables installers and to organisations looking for an answer to rising heating bills.
“The non domestic phase of the scheme has suffered from the glaring omission of air source heat pumps since it was first introduced in 2011. It was a bewildering omission of a proven technology which is well suited to commercial retrofit projects, particularly in off-gas areas in place of oil or LPG.
“Now the inclusion of air to water heat pumps and increased tariffs for ground source heat pumps will finally provide further encouragement for installers and organisations to take advantage of the benefits of high efficiency heat pumps such as the Dimplex LA TU (air source) and SI TU (ground source) ranges.”