(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations, which extend to Great Britain, make amendments to the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme Regulations 2011 (“the 2011 Regulations”). They correct an error in regulation 37D of the 2011 Regulations which was inserted by the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme (Amendment) Regulations 2013(1) and an error in Schedule A1 to the 2011 Regulations which was inserted by the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2013(2).
Regulations 3 and 4(b) amend regulations 37C and 37D of the 2011 Regulations respectively, so as to provide the circumstances in which, for the purposes of calculating the initial tariff payable under regulation 37A in respect of accredited RHI installations for which an RHI emission certificate is one of the eligibility criteria, B and C will be zero. These circumstances are where applications for accreditation in respect of plants with a capacity of 500 kWth or less are made between 24th September 2013 and the date on which these Regulations come into force or 1st January 2014, whichever is the earlier, and the tariff start date is on or after 1st January 2014 provided that, before 1st January 2014 such applications are in all other respects properly made, the eligibility criteria are met and the plant is commissioned.
Regulation 4(a) amends the tests concerning growth in forecast expenditure that are used in regulation 37D to determine whether and by how much a tariff will be reduced in a particular tariff period, so as to lower the thresholds that govern when each test is met.
Regulation 5 amends Schedule A1 so as to provide that testing of emissions of NOx and PM must be carried out in accordance with one of the standards in paragraph 8 or alternatively in accordance with the standards and requirements set out in paragraph 9.
No impact assessment has been carried out on this instrument as no effect on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is foreseen. A full impact assessment of the effect that the Renewable Heat Incentive (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2013 will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is available from the Department of Energy and Climate Change at 3 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2AW and is published with the Explanatory Memorandum alongside the instrument on www.legislation.gov.uk.