Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department is making an assessment of the inclusion of infrared heating technology in the renewable heat incentive.

There are no plans to make an assessment of the inclusion of infrared heating in the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI). In the first instance, the primary legislation that underpins the RHI, Section 100 of the Energy Act (2008), places strict parameters on the categories of technology that can be supported under the scheme. In addition, the non-domestic RHI has already closed to new applications, and the domestic RHI is scheduled to close to new applications at the end of March 2022. Before a new technology could be introduced into the domestic scheme a formal evidence review would be required, followed by a public consultation. Legislation would then need to be taken through Parliament. This would take longer than the remaining lifetime of the scheme.