Legislation which will introduce further cuts to tariffs under the non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme in NI completed an accelerated passage through Westminster this week.

The new legislation will come into effect on 1 April 2019, with the cuts expected to reduce annual payments for a standard 99kW boiler from £13,420 to £2,210.

The bill passed through the House of Lords on Tuesday evening, but it was only after the UK government proposed setting up a unit under independent chairmanship within the Department for the Economy (DfE) to examine cases of RHI claimants that have experienced hardship due to cuts.

“I propose that each element of their case is considered in thorough detail and with their participation,” said NI Minister Lord Duncan of Springbank.

An inquiry is also to be conducted by the House of Commons’ NI Affairs Committee into changes to RHI tariff payments. However, the new cuts are set to meet a legal challenge by the Renewable Heat Association for NI (RHANI), with a hearing scheduled for 4 April 2019.

An upcoming case in the Court of Appeal over initial cuts to RHI tariffs that were introduced in 2017 has been postponed by RHANI, as the organisation focuses on overturning the latest payment changes. According to RHANI executive chair Andrew Trimble, scheme participants could see the effects of the latest cuts immediately, as the legislation allows for the new tariffs to begin on the most recent anniversary of scheme accreditation.

“For many with accreditation anniversaries in September or October, their allocated 1,314 hours under the new tariff will have already been consumed. For them, there will be no further quarterly payment until February 2020,” he said.

Trimble wrote to DfE permanent secretary Noel Lavery this week to express concerns over calculations used to set the new tariff rates. In particular, he argues that biomass (wood pellets) are not cheaper to run than liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

“There will be mass reversion to LPG if the 2019 tariffs are implemented,” Trimble said.