PART 5Periodic support payments

Payment of periodic support payments to participants37

1

Periodic support payments shall accrue from the tariff start date and shall be payable for 20 years.

2

Periodic support payments shall be calculated and paid by the Authority.

3

Subject to regulation 43(5) and paragraphs (7) and (9) of this regulation, the tariff for an accredited RHI installation shall be fixed when that installation is accredited.

4

Subject to paragraph (7), the tariff for a participant who is a producer of biomethane is the biomethane and biogas combustion tariff set out in Schedule 3.

5

Subject to paragraphs (6), (7) and (9), the tariff for an accredited RHI installation is the tariff set out in Schedule 3 in relation to its source of energy or technology and installation capacity.

6

For the purposes of paragraph (5), where the accredited RHI installation is one of a number of plants forming part of the same heating system its installation capacity is to be taken to be the sum of the installation capacities of that accredited RHI installation and all plants for which an application for accreditation has been made (whether or not they have been accredited) which—

a

use the same source of energy and technology as that accredited RHI installation; and

b

form part of the same heating system as that accredited RHI installation.

7

The tariffs—

a

for the period beginning with the commencement of these Regulations and ending with 31st March 2012, are the tariffs set out in Schedule 3; and

b

for each subsequent year commencing with 1st April and ending with 31st March, are the tariffs applicable on the immediately preceding 31st March adjusted by the percentage increase or decrease in the retail prices index for the previous calendar year (the resulting figure being rounded to the nearest tenth of a penny, with any twentieth of a penny being rounded upwards).

8

The Authority must calculate the tariff rates each year in accordance with paragraph (7) and publish on or before 1st April of each year a table of tariffs for the period commencing with 1st April of that year and ending with 31st March of the following year.

9

Where an accredited RHI installation receives the small commercial biomass tariff or the medium commercial biomass tariff as set out in Schedule 3—

a

the tariff for the initial heat generated by the installation in any 12 month period commencing with, or with the anniversary of, the date of accreditation is the relevant tier 1 tariff specified in Schedule 3; and

b

the tariff for all further heat generated in that same 12 month period is the relevant tier 2 tariff.

10

For the purposes of paragraph (9), “the initial heat” means the heat in kWhth generated by an accredited RHI installation running at its installation capacity for 1,314 hours.