The Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012

Ongoing obligations in relation to metering

34.—(1) Participants must keep all meters and steam measuring equipment required to be used in accordance with these Regulations—

(a) continuously operating;

(b) properly maintained and periodically checked for errors; and

(c) re-calibrated every 10 years or within such period of time as may be specified in accordance with manufacturers’ instructions where available; whichever is the sooner,

and must retain evidence of this, including service and maintenance invoices, receipts or certificates for the duration of their participation in the scheme.

(2) The Department may, by the date (if any) specified by it, or at such regular intervals as it may require to enable it to carry out its functions under these Regulations, require participants to provide the following information—

(a) meter readings and other data collected in accordance with these Regulations from all steam measuring equipment, class 2 heat meters and other heat meters used in accordance with these Regulations in such format as the Department may reasonably require;

(b) in relation to participants using steam measuring equipment, a kWhth figure of both the heat generated and the heat used for eligible purposes together with supporting data and calculations; and

(c) the evidence and service and maintenance documentation specified in paragraph (1).

(3) Participants using heat pumps to provide both heating and cooling must ensure that their meters for those pumps enable them to—

(a) measure heat used for eligible purposes only; and

(b) where appropriate, measure (in order to discount) any cooling generated by the reverse operation of the heat pump,

and must provide upon request an explanation of how their metering arrangements have enabled the cooling in sub-paragraph (b) to be discounted.

(4) The data referred to in paragraph (2)(a) and (b) may be estimated in exceptional circumstances if the Department has agreed in writing to an estimate being provided and to the way in which those estimates are to be calculated.

(5) Nothing in this regulation prevents the Department from accepting further data from a participant, if the Department considers it appropriate to do so.