After deliberating since January 13, the Court of Appeal has today found against the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) at a hearing for its appeal against the High Court’s December ruling on UK solar feed-in tariffs. This means the feed-in tariff could now go back to 43.3p/kWh for <4kW systems installed until March 3, 2012, subject to a further appeal to the Supreme Court.

So, what does this mean for the Solar PV industry and its installers? If Court of Appeal finding stands then:

• Solar installations registered between 12 December- 3 March will attract the 43.3p/kWh rate for 25 years
• Installations registered on or after 3 March will also attract 43.3p/kWh, but only until 1 April at which point they will receive 21 p/kWh for the remainder of the 25 years
• All installations from 1 April until the next reduction date will attract 21 p/kWh for 25 years

The Energy and Climate Secretary, Chris Huhne, intends to appeal against today’s decision; he commented:

“The Court of Appeal has upheld the High Court ruling on FiTs albeit on different grounds. We disagree and are seeking permission to appeal to the Supreme Court.

“We have already put before Parliament changes to the regulations that will bring a 21p rate into effect from April for solar PV installations from 3 March to help reduce the pressure on the budget and provide as much certainty as we can for consumers and industry.

“We want to maximise the number of installations that are possible within the available budget rather than use available money to pay a higher tariff to half the number of installations. Solar PV can have strong and vibrant future in UK and we want a lasting FiTs scheme to support that future and jobs in the industry.”

Uptake recently rocketed when lower rates were originally announced and it’s now expected that we’ll see a similar reaction. NAPIT members must be careful not to overpromise rates to their customers at a time when DECC are still taking their appeal to a higher level.

NAPIT Director David Cowburn commented:

“It’s important that installers are aware the imminent Supreme Court appeal which still means it’s impossible to promise customers the 43.3p rate as only the lower 21p rate is certain. We are pleased however, that DECC have confirmed that the 21 p rate is not under threat of further reduction if they cannot overturn the Appeal Court finding.”

Source – NAPIT News Bulletin – 25/1/12

Please note that pricing is applicable from the 1st march 2012.

Call us on 0116 2581410 to discuss your underfloor heating project.

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Simpleheat Underfloor Heating Pricelist March 2012

WRITTEN MINISTERIAL STATEMENT ON SOLAR PV FEED-IN TARIFFS

Umbrella company and holiday cottages are first two successful applicants to low carbon heating incentive

Umbrella supplier Booth Brothers in Sheffield entered the history books today by becoming one of the first places in the UK to get the government’s Renewable Heat Incentive.

Its offices, housed in an 18th century former corn mill in Penistone, will be kept warm through an underfloor heating system powered by a renewable energy heat pump.

The second installation to be accredited is at a set of holiday cottages in East Yorkshire. A ground source heat pump will provide heat and hot water to five holiday lets at Broadgate Farm Cottages in Beverley.

The £860m Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) was launched last year to make it more financially attractive for industry and businesses to install low carbon heating systems like heat pumps, biomass boilers or solar thermal panels.

The RHI is expected to increase the number of installations in industry, the commercial and public sector by seven times to around 126,000 and support the thousands of existing jobs in the heating sector.

Read more on the DECC website

10th January 2011

On the FITs appeal, A DECC spokesperson said: “We have lodged grounds of appeal with the Court of Appeal. We hope that permission will be granted for an appeal and that we can secure a hearing as soon as possible so that we can provide clarity for consumers and industry on the way forward following the consultation.

“The High Court’s decision was based on the view that the proposed approach to implementing new tariffs for solar PV is inconsistent with the FIT scheme’s statutory purpose of encouraging small-scale low-carbon electricity generation.

“We disagree with this for a number of reasons. The overriding aim of the proposed reduction in tariffs for solar PV (as set out in the recent consultation) is to ensure that over the long term as many people as possible are encouraged to install small scale low-carbon generation (including other technologies as well as solar PV) and benefit from the funding available for the FIT scheme. Without an urgent reduction in the current tariffs, which give a very generous return, the budget for the scheme would be severely depleted and there would be very little available for future solar PV generators, or for other technologies. Our view is that the urgent steps we have proposed to protect the scheme for the future are fully consistent with the scheme’s statutory purpose.

We have also made the point that the judicial review was premature as no decision has yet been taken, and a decision will only be taken after a full analysis of the responses to the consultation.”

Find out more from the DECC

9th January 2012

We are very pleased to inform you that Underfloor Warehouse Ltd was acquired by the DCC Group, (www.dcc.ie) on 7^th November 2011.  DCC Energy is the largest oil distributor in the UK and second largest LPG distributor, with approximately 700,000 customers. DCC acquired Underfloor Warehouse Ltd to offer a full renewable package to both their current and future customers.

We are planning to increase both distribution sites and product offering in the coming year which should enable us to further improve our service.

With effect from 9^th December we have also changed our trading name of Underfloor Warehouse Ltd to UFW Ltd.  All other business/contact details remain unchanged.

The change of name will enable us to offer a variety of products and services without the label of an underfloor heating business, currently 75% of product sales are renewable energy systems.

We would like to take this opportunity of thanking you for your continued support and we look forward to expanding our products and services to you.

Should you require any further information please do not hesitate in contacting us.

9th December 2012

Reduced subsidies for domestic solar electricity production have been proposed as part of an urgent effort to keep the FITs scheme budget under control and reflect the plummeting costs of the technology.

The proposals, subject to consultation, would introduce a new tariff for schemes up to 4kW in size of 21p/kWh – down from the current 43.3p/kWh. Reduced rates are also proposed for schemes between 4kW and 250kW, to ensure those schemes receive a consistent rate of return.    Read more

31st October 2011

Click below to find out more

Energy_Saving_Trust_FIT_review_fact_sheet October 2011

28th October 2011

Competition Terms & Conditions

• 1 entry per household
• The competition is not open to any UFW employee or friends/family of employees.
• System is to be installed at the winners cost.
• System provided is a 125sq mtr complete kit however the winner can upgrade at their own cost for a larger system.
• Winner agrees to PR and publicity/marketing purposes of product installed.
• Competition closes on Friday 11^th November and the winner will be announced on Monday 14^th November on our website (www.ufw.co.uk).

24th October 2011

”We are fully committed to introducing the Renewable Heat Incentive. However, we understand that the European Commission state aid approval for the RHI will be subject to a reduction in the large biomass tariff.  We expect to receive written confirmation of this very shortly. This means we now need to change the regulations before the scheme can open to applications.  We understand this is frustrating for industry who are already gearing up for the RHI however we hope to get this sorted out soon and open the scheme before the end of November.”

Ofgem is ready to start accepting applications as soon as the Regulations come into force.

If you have any questions regarding eligibility and how to apply to the scheme in the meantime, please contact our enquiries team on 0845 200 2122 or email them at rhi.enquiry@ofgem.gov.uk.

If you have any other questions regarding the delay to the scheme, please visit the DECC website at www.decc.gov.uk/rhi, or email them at rfi@decc.gsi.gov.uk. There is also further information on our website, at www.ofgem.gov.uk/rhi.

If your enquiry relates to the Renewable Heat Premium Payment, please contact the Energy Saving Trust on 0800 512 012, or visit their website at www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/rhpp.

18th October 2011