Stevenson Welcomes High Uptake of Heating Scheme in the North East

Stewart Stevenson, SNP MSP for Banffshire & Buchan Coast, has welcomed the high uptake of the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) Scheme in the North East and across Scotland.

There have been 7,640 renewable heating systems installed across Scotland since the financial incentive scheme was introduced in April 2014 – including 1,029 in North East Scotland.

The Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (Domestic RHI) is a financial incentive to promote the use of renewable heat. Switching to renewable heating systems can help reduce carbon emissions and heating costs for households.

Mr Stevenson met with representatives from Ofgem E Serve, the energy regulator’s delivery arm, which administers the scheme on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change. He was pleased to learn that Scotland is at the forefront of uptake across Great Britain, with 1.4 applications per 1000 people in Scotland compared to the GB average of 0.6.

In Aberdeenshire, households have installed 204 Air Source Heat Pumps, 210 Biomass Boilers, 88 Ground Source Heat Pumps and 87 solar thermal systems.

Mr Stevenson said:

“I am pleased that so many of my constituents have accessed the Domestic RHI scheme. The scheme will especially benefit those who aren’t on the gas grid as they are likely to save money on their energy bills.

“I would encourage anyone in Aberdeenshire and across the North East who has not looked into the Domestic RHI scheme to go to Ofgem’s E Serve website at www.ofgem.gov.uk/domesticrhi for more information.”