Northern Ireland

RHI list 'could' include companies who had payments suspended

Flaws in the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme could cost the taxpayer £490m over a 20-year period
Flaws in the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme could cost the taxpayer £490m over a 20-year period Flaws in the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme could cost the taxpayer £490m over a 20-year period

THE Department for the Economy has confirmed its list of non-domestic RHI claimants "could" include companies who have had their payments suspended.

Details of businesses and other organisations that signed up for the botched green energy scheme were released by the department two weeks ago.

All those who have received subsidies of at least £5,000 up until February 28 this year were included.

Energy regulator Ofgem told The Irish News that it would not disclose if any of those on the list were among 33 installations which had payments suspended following inspections.

When asked the same question, the Department for the Economy said it "would not comment on individual cases" but confirmed they may feature on the list.

"The list the department published includes the names of limited companies, limited liability partnerships and organisations that have received support payments under the scheme above a threshold of £5,000," it said.

"This could include companies who have had their payments suspended if their cumulative payments totalled more than the £5,000 threshold.

"Suspensions may occur for a number of reasons including technical issues and investigations."

To date a limited number of inspections of RHI installations have been carried out by Ofgem but last year the department commissioned an independent review amid concerns about abuse of the scheme.

Carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), it conducted 80 site visits, comprising 295 installations, with 53 per cent found to be “contrary to the intention or spirit of the scheme”.

Set up under former enterprise minister Arlene Foster in 2012 to encourage businesses to switch to renewable energy sources, flaws in the design meant that claimants could earn more cash the more fuel they burn.

The lack of cost controls has left taxpayers facing a potential overspend of £490m over the next 20 years and the fall-out led to the collapse of the Stormont government and a public inquiry.

A tender was put out earlier this month for a contractor to conduct a programme of on-site inspections of all 2,090 installations.

In the contract notice the department estimates that the process could cost as much as £2 million excluding VAT.

In addition to inspections it requires "formal reports to the department for each inspection as well as providing a final report covering the whole assignment summarising the findings, conclusions and making recommendations for future action".

The £2m cost is at the "upper level" according to the department, with the estimated contract value ranging between £1.2m and £2m.

"This range reflects the potential scale of the contract and takes into account such changes to the scope and or scale which may result from future operational requirements."

The tender process closes on April 6 and inspection of sites is due to begin in May.

The initial contract period will be for eight months, with 15 optional extension periods of four months each "to cover any enforcement activities which the contractor may be required to support".