The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has today published an evaluation of the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).  The evaluation involved new primary research carried out over a 2-year period by a consortium led by Natcen, Eunomia and the Centre for Sustainable Energy. Frontier was commissioned by DECC to bring together the key insights from this new research.

The RHI is a financial incentive aimed at promoting the use of renewable heat in domestic and non-domestic buildings. Findings of the research include:

• Financial motivations were key for those taking up renewable heating systems under the RHI. However, as the RHI is paid on an ongoing basis rather than upfront, the upfront costs of renewable systems remain a barrier to uptake.
• The RHI appeals more to customers proactively replacing heating systems, rather those with an immediate need to replace their systems.
• The majority of RHI applicants are satisfied with their new renewable heating systems.
  Frontier regularly advises clients on issues relating to energy efficiency and renewable heating.

For more information, please contact media@frontier-economics.com, or call +44 (0)20 7031 7000.