Renewable Energy Grants

The Energy Company Obligation (ECO), provides grants to fund energy-efficient upgrades to homes, reducing carbon emissions and energy bills. The ECO4 scheme will run until 31 March 2026, however, new applications to the scheme will be difficult to complete in time.

Following the Government’s announcement in their Autumn budget to stop funding the ECO grant from April 2026, the industry had been hoping for an extension of the grant’s end date until such time as a replacement grant was fully introduced, but the transitionary period offering is very limited with many businesses unable to withstand the uncertainty.

Some householders have now found themselves in a situation where ECO funded works have, or were about to start, but the contractor has now been placed into administration.  In these instances, we are recommending affected people contact their MP, as it is not possible for another ECO installer to take over the installation. You can find your MP’s contact details here: Find your MP - MPs and Lords - UK Parliament

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) provides a grant to cover part of the cost of replacing fossil fuel heating systems (gas or oil) with a heat pump or biomass boiler. The grant is accessed by a Microgeneration Scheme (MCS) accredited installer – so if you are considering this technology, talk to your installer about the grant. Currently, the BUS grant provides £7,500 towards an air source heat pump, £7,500 towards a ground source heat pump, and £5,000 towards a biomass boiler, so this will only partially cover the costs of an upgrade.

The Government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme will provide upfront capital grants. These are to support the installation of heat pumps, and in some circumstances, biomass boilers.

Acting on behalf of property owners, installers can apply for:

• £5,000 off the cost and installation of a biomass boiler
• £7,500 off the cost and installation of an air source heat pump
• £7,500 off the cost and installation of a ground source heat pump, including water source heat pumps.

You can find an installer in your area on the MCS website.

If you’d like to know which of these technologies is right for your property, contact our Cornwall Low Carbon Energy Advice Network team at email: lowcarbon@cep.org.uk to request a call back.

Cornwall Council are administering the Warm Homes: Local Grant.  Unfortunately, this grant is oversubscribed, but we understand they are contemplating bidding for more government funding.  Any new applications received may bolster this bid and the government’s application portal can be found here: Apply for the Warm Homes: Local Grant to improve a home - GOV.UK.  Please note, your household income should be less than £36,000 per annum (although there are a couple of exemptions to this requirement). 

The Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS) will run until 31 March 2026, however, new applications to the scheme will be difficult to complete in time.

Cornwall Council have partnered with Lendology CIC who are able to provide loans for the installation of energy efficiency measures, such as insulation, solar PV, heat pumps and batteries.  Whilst this is not a grant, it does enable you to choose your own contractor and systems without delay.

This loan offering can also be used in conjunction with the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, which is a partial grant towards the cost of a heat pump, and in limited circumstances a biomass boiler.  For more information and to apply, visit GOV.UK. Please note there would need to be a valid Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for the property showing the same to be “D” rated or lower.   

Previously, people with Solar Photovoltaic (PV) systems could earn Feed-in Tariffs (FiT) for generating renewable electricity at home and exporting it to the grid. The tariff rates were sufficiently generous that people investing in these systems could usually pay off the cost of their installation in less than 10 years. The FiT programme was closed in March 2019. In its place, the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) now offers on average 4-5p per unit (depending on your set-up and your supplier; some suppliers offer as low as 1p per unit and a couple of suppliers offer above the average, but only for customers who meet specific criteria). This means that the economics of investing in Solar PV focuses much more on the property’s daily electricity demand and how much can be offset by the systems output. The SEG rates will not cover the capital costs of an installation.

From April 2026, annual FiT payments will be linked to Consumer Prices Index (CPI) instead of Retail Prices Index (RPI). Both measure inflation, but CPI usually rises more slowly than RPI, which means your FIT payments will still go up each year, just not as quickly as before.⁣ This only affects people already on the FiT scheme, and Ofgem will publish the new rates ahead of the change, so you’ll know exactly what to expect. It’s a good opportunity to check your FiT payments and plan ahead for your energy bills.⁣

The Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) was a government scheme to encourage the uptake of renewable heating technologies; it was closed for new applicants in March 2022.