Grants available from NIE

NIE Community Low Carbon Buildings Programme Phase 2 Top-up.

NIE Community LCBP Phase 2 Top-up is to encourage community groups in Northern Ireland to apply for Low Carbon Buildings Programme Funding. LCBP grant levels vary for PV, Solar Water Heating, Wind and Biomass, so NIE will top-up the grant to an overall 65% of the installed cost.

Grants

PV - 50% LCBP + 15% NIE, or £900 per kWp, whichever is lower.
SWH - LCBP 30% + 35% NIE
Wind - LCBP 30% + NIE 35%, or £1,000 per kW, whichever is lower.
Biomass - LCBP 35% + 30% NIE.

Please note all NIE Top-up grants will be capped at £5,000 for each technology. Applicants receiving funding for the same renewable project from any other NIE programme will not be funded through the NIE Community LCBP Phase 2 Top-up.

Ursula Toman, Northern Ireland Energy Agency, is managing the scheme on NIE’S behalf. Please contact her at 028 9026 5996 for further details and an application form.

NIE PV Top Up Grant

It has been agreed that NIE will top up both the Reconnect grant and the Low Carbon Buildings grant for Photovoltaics (PV). The government PV grant is currently £3,000 per kWp installed (up to a maximum of £15k and subject to an overall 50% limit of installed cost).

NIE will now top this up with an additional 15% (or £900 per kWp, whichever is less, capped at £10,000). The process of how this will work is outlined below for each programme.

Reconnect

1. Householder receives Letter of Offer from DETI, which includes a NIE application form stating NIE Top-up grant is also available.
2. Householder applies directly to NIE for Top-up grant.
3. NIE will confirm the grant level with Householder and inform DETI that Householder has applied for Top-up grant.
4. DETI verify to NIE that grant has been paid to Householder.
5. Householder will submit copy of DETI grant payment statement to NIE to claim Top-up.
6. NIE arrange payment to Householder.

LCBP

1. Householder/Community Group/Business receives a Letter of Offer from LCBP, which includes a NIE application form stating NIE Top-up grant is also available.
2. Householder/Community Group/Business applies directly to NIE for Top-up grant.
3. NIE will confirm the grant level with Householder/Community Group/Business and inform LCBP that Householder/Community Group/Business has applied for Top-up grant.
4. LCBP verify to NIE that grant has been paid to Householder/Community Group/Business.
5. Householder/Community Group/Business will submit copy of LCBP grant payment statement to NIE to claim Top-up.
6. NIE arrange payment to Householder/Community Group/Business.

Help with Hydro - Small Scale Hydro Programme

This programme is to help encourage the development of small-scale hydro schemes. The introduction of ROCs now has the potential to improve the commerciality of this technology.

Support is offered to help develop micro hydro in the form of:

• Householders - Grant for 0.5kWe to 5kWe system is £1,000 per kWe, up to a maximum of £5,000, whichever is smaller.
• Communities and other organisations - Grant applied for is a maximum of 25% of total capital and installation costs, or £10,000, whichever is smaller.

The grant is only available to hydro schemes in Northern Ireland, and is only for new schemes - it will not be paid retrospectively. Grants must be claimed within 12 months of a grant offer being made by NIE.

Payment of the grant will be made on the commissioning of the system. A letter of grant offer will be provided to eligible participants in the meantime. Please click here for application guidelines.

This is a limited offer and is available on a 'first come, first served basis'. You can download the application form by clicking here.

Domestic Combined Heat and Power (d-CHP)

As part of a trial we have installed over 30 d-CHP units within the natural gas area. The households participating range from terrace to small semi-detached and small detached properties and includes owner-occupier, Housing Executive and Housing Association homes.

The WhisperGen units installed are manufactured in New Zealand and as well as providing domestic heating in the form of hot water and space heating, also generate up to 1kW of electricity. This will contribute towards the household’s electricity demand resulting in reduced electricity bills for the customer.

As part of the trial some of the households have monitoring equipment installed alongside the d-CHP unit, collecting data to help with future d-CHP projects.

Northern Lights Carbon Reduction Programme

Organisations with annual energy costs of less then £50,000 can receive free help to further cut their bills.

ARENA Network NI, the environmental arm of Business in the Community, is offering free Carbon Footprint Audits to Northern Ireland based companies, with the help of the Carbon Trust, NIE and Firmus Energy.

As part of the Northern Lights Carbon Reduction programme, this complimentary service will see a specially trained representative work with businesses or agencies to develop a strategic approach to energy management and to adopt simple cost saving measures.

To encourage businesses to install renewable energy technologies NIE is offering support to businesses who receive a Northern Lights energy review and who want to reduce their carbon consumption. For more information about the NIE support please click here.

To find out more about the Northern Lights Carbon Reduction Programme please log on to www.arenani.org.uk or contact Michael Schwartzentruber on 028 9046 0606 or email Michael.Schwartzentruber@bitcni.org.uk.

Views of other users