The head civil servant in the Department for the Economy in NI, Noel Lavery has confirmed that his Department will carry out a review of Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) tariff payments.

It comes after a report published by the NI Affairs Committee on Sunday raised concerns that cost cutting changes made to RHI tariffs in April 2019 were “a raw deal” for scheme participants and had been set “far too low”.

The MPs recommended that DfE revisits their calculations and compare them to costs and assumptions made in similar schemes in Britain and the Republic of Ireland which are significantly more lucrative.

We will fully and professionally review the tariff using the independent consultants that we used before

Speaking to MPs on Wednesday, Lavery said DfE would undertake the review. “We will fully and professionally review the tariff using the independent consultants that we used before,” he said.

However, Lavery indicated that tariffs would still need to bring the annual rate of return that boiler owners receive on investments down to the rate originally approved by the EU Commission in 2012, which was 12%.

Legal

RHI claimants are not optimistic that DfE’s review will bring significant change to tariff rates and are instead pinning hopes on legal proceedings due before the High Court in October.

The case brought by Ballymoney poultry producer Tom Forgrave, on behalf of the Renewable Heat Association (RHANI), challenges the cost cutting legislation which was brought forward by NI Secretary of State Karen Bradley and passed through Westminster in March.

The report by MPs on the NI Affairs Committee described the process of rushing the legislation through Westminster as “unacceptable”.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, RHANI executive chair Andrew Trimble pointed out that the legal challenge in October centres around whether the actions of the Secretary of State and DfE over the latest RHI cuts were compatible with the law.

“If we win that, we will be back into the High Court to get a writ to sue for damages to RHANI members,” he said.

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