Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to paragraph 4.6.25 of the Consultation Document on UK Renewable Energy Strategy, published on 26 June 2008, what plans his Department has to consult on (a) an MOT-type scheme for biomass boilers and (b) other arrangements to maintain emission standards.

Given the wide range of technologies supported by the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), we do not think it is practical to specify in legislation a particular level of maintenance or frequency of servicing. We believe that including such a provision risks being excessively burdensome or possibly misleading. The RHI requirement is that the equipment is maintained in line with manufacturer instructions. All products and installations under the RHI are covered under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme, which requires the provision of manufacturer instructions.

In our Government response to the RHI consultation in February 2013 ‘Providing Certainty, Improving Performance’ we set out our plans to introduce air quality emissions limits. Following this, air quality limits were introduced to the non-domestic RHI in September 2013, and the domestic RHI April 2014. We remain committed to reviewing these limits in the future.

Biomass boilers 1-50MW are covered under the Medium Sized Combustion Directive which is currently under negotiation in the EU. Defra, as lead department on air pollution, has been consulting on an ongoing basis with a number of stakeholders on a range of matters relating to these proposals. For boilers up to 500KW, emission limits were agreed as part of EU Ecodesign Regulations following stakeholder consultation.