The SEAI has been drafting the details of the scheme and exchanging it with the Department of Communications, Energy and Climate Action and the European Commission to get it cleared for State Aid rules, but no date has yet been set to open applications, SEAI project manager Ray Langton told a workshop on renewable heat at Teagasc Ashtown this week.

The scheme aims to help Ireland achieve its renewable energy obligations by paying commercial users of heat such as factories and pigs or poultry farms to switch to biomass boilers. Biogas generated on the premises is also eligible. There are hopes that this will, in turn, kickstart demand for energy crops.

Open for around three years

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Langton said that the current trend would see Ireland generate 9% of its heat from renewable sources by 2020, but the national target is 12% and the SSRH aims to fill that gap. "The scheme will run until we hit that target of 3%. We believe it will take about three years of accepting applications," he said.

The SSRH is due to open later this year and has been allocated €7m in the current budget. "We want to spend this money and bring people in," Langton said. However, he added that "value for money" was also important, after the so-called cash for ash scandal over a similar scheme in Northern Ireland. "It has to be heat that would otherwise be used, not generated just because there is a scheme," he said. "We're not here to sell renewable energy."

The objective is to reduce energy first

Langton gave the following insights into the rules under preparation:

  • The scheme will favour existing installations that convert to renewable fuels. Applicants for new renewable heating installations will need to provide counterfactual information to prove that their investment would traditionally have been powered by fossil fuel and supporting them is justified.
  • Applicants will have to demonstrate energy efficiency in their heating system, using BER ratings for buildings and a detailed assessment such as the EXEED procedure. "The objective is to reduce energy first," Langton said.
  • Metering will need to isolate eligible heat output. For example, a biomass boiler used to heat a farmer's shed (eligible) and home (non-eligible) will need to be fitted with a meter measuring the heat delivered to the shed only. The same goes for systems combining a renewable boiler and a backup non-eligible source such as oil; measured renewable output only will receive payments.
  • There will be criteria to select eligible boilers, installers and fuels. "Ideally, we would have a certification for all fuels," to ensure that the biomass used is sourced sustainably, Langton said. There is not much point in switching to renewables if the fuel is linked to deforestation in tropical countries.

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