NEWS UPDATE: got a tweet from Greg Barker Energy Minister saying November is what he plans for a relaunch.

The REA have just received the following communication from DECC.

As you will be aware, DECC was planning to launch the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) for non-domestic generators on 30 September 2011. State Aid approval is a necessary condition for the scheme to go ahead. As part of that process, the European Commission has expressed concerns that the large biomass tariff is set too high.  We understand that the Commission has given state aid approval for the RHI, subject to a reduction in the large biomass tariff and we expect to receive written confirmation of this very soon.

Changing the large biomass tariff will require the RHI regulations to be amended and submitted to Parliament for approval.  We are unable to launch the scheme as a whole until this process has been completed. Therefore, unfortunately, we will not be able to open the scheme for applications on 30 September 2011 as we had originally planned.

Once we have received written confirmation from the Commission, we will make a further announcement about what this means for the large biomass tariff and the timing of the launch.  We are committed to launching the scheme as soon as possible to minimise disruption to stakeholders.

Regards,

Renewable Heat Incentive Team

There is no industry response at the time of posting. Barry Johnston, MD of Solar Twin Ltd, muttered something unrepeatable about kidney function, parties, breweries and spilt seed.