21 organisations have backed a letter to Baroness Neville-Rolfe, minister of state for energy and intellectual property, urging her to retain solar thermal within the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).
The group, representing the solar industry, local Government, manufacturers, housing providers, land owners, and environmental campaigners, argue that the solar sector should not be unfairly disadvantaged by being removed from the sscheme and that the diverse application of solar thermal should be fully recognised.
Paul Barwell, chief executive of the Solar Trade Association (STA), commented: “The industry was shocked, in March, when the Government proposed removing solar thermal from the RHI, whilst retaining support for heat pumps and biomass. Now, six months later, the industry is still in limbo as it waits for the Government’s response. We are confident that the Solar Trade Association made a compelling case to support solar thermal and hope the Government rethinks their proposal. However it is urgent that we get a decision quickly to end this uncertainty.”
Those signing the letter argue that, instead of cutting solar thermal from the RHI, the Government should expand the number of applications of solar thermal allowed.
The letter reads: The UK currently lags well behind other countries in its use of solar thermal – ranking 44th according to the IEA for installed capacity per capita. However, with continued support from government under the Renewable Heat Incentive solar thermal has the opportunity to contribute to ever-wider range of applications, including district heating, space heating, industrial process heating, and valuable integration with other renewable heating technologies. The scope for solar thermal to displace fossil heating in industrial process heating is remarkable. Analysis by IRENA (The International Renewable Energy Agency) shows that solar thermal technologies could technically provide nearly half of heat demand in the industrial sector, displacing large amounts of carbon.
The STA says that if the proposal to remove solar thermal from the RHI is implemented there is every prospect that the current supply chain will cease, together with UK skills and manufacturing capacity.
The Association continued that without this technology the Government will struggle to meet its dual targets of alleviating fuel poverty and reaching 12% renewable heat by 2020.
