Baxi Group welcomes Government recognition of combined heat and power technology for Feed-in Tariffs

The Government has announced the final details of its Feed-in Tariff (FIT) scheme. Baxi Group welcomes the Government’s recognition that micro-combined heat and power (mCHP) technology will play an important role in reducing the carbon footprint of homes. However Baxi Group is disappointed that the generation tariff for mCHP is set at a lower level than expected, 10p/kWh*. While this is a valuable contribution, it will not generate the same level of take up as the industry has been hoping for.

Sarah Brook, Marketing Director, Baxi Group, commented on the FIT scheme Government announcement: “The UK is currently leading the world in terms of mCHP development and today’s news will help to promote growth in the mCHP market. However, it will not deliver the scale of market growth or economic benefits that would have been achieved if the requested 15p generation tariff level had been awarded.”

Feed-in Tariffs are set to be introduced in April 2010 to support the uptake of small-scale low-carbon electricity generation and help to deliver the UK’s 2020 renewable targets. An attractive financial incentive is key to driving the uptake of microgeneration technology, which makes today’s announcement of tariff levels disappointing.

With homes accounting for nearly 30% of the UK’s total carbon emissions, the Government is keen to cut household emissions to help meet its targets of reducing UK carbon by 80% by 2050. The Government recently acknowledged this by launching the boiler scrappage scheme to encourage homeowners to replace old inefficient boilers. The micro-CHP sector was relying on FIT as an additional incentive to stimulate the microgeneration market and allow consumers to access this technology as a logical and practical alternative to a regular boiler.

Baxi Group has timed the commercial launch of its revolutionary Baxi Ecogen micro-CHP to coincide with the introduction of FIT. Baxi Ecogen is the first wall-hung, domestic Stirling engine micro-CHP unit to be available, heralding the most significant change in the home heating industry since the condensing boiler.

This type of microgeneration has some unique benefits, such as generating electricity at times of peak electrical demand, thus maximising greener on-site use, helping to alleviate fuel poverty and relieving the pressure on centralised power stations at times of peak demand when the most carbon intensive generating equipment is employed. In addition, it doesn’t rely on building orientation or weather conditions to generate electricity.

Baxi Ecogen complies with the latest legislation and provides significant carbon benefits, so it can help both the new-build and public sector meet the requirements of the Code for Sustainable Homes.

Baxi Group is committed to developing and supplying innovative new heating technologies that will play a role in tackling climate change, reducing the use of fossil fuels and addressing the issues of fuel poverty. For more information, visit www.baxigroupspecification.co.uk

*This tariff is available only for 30,000 micro-CHP installations. A review will take place when 12,000 units have been installed.