Going green could be a good earner claims NIE

 

Take the plunge into renewable energy and it could become a nice little earner.

Thousands of households are already cutting their bills by generating their own electricity through renewable technology - and now they will be able to sell any power they don't use back to the grid. NIE Energy's 'generation tariff' means NIE Energy could end up paying you for any electricity that is generated, but not used by your household.

"We will pay 4.75p for every unit that is exported back to the grid. All you need is a simple import/export meter in place of your normal NIE meter. It may not sound like much, but it soon adds up" - Claire Carson of NIE Energy said.

The NIE Energy Generation tariff is available to wind, photovoltaic, hydro and biomass renewable generators up to a 1000 kilowatts - and Combined Heat & Power (CHP) up to 500 kilowatts.

On top of this, electricity generators can make more money for every unit that is generated from Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROC). "ROCs are green certificates issued to approved generators" - Ms Carson added.

"We are an official Ofgem agent, so we can act on behalf of customers under 50 kilowatts, when dealing with Ofgem. This allows us to help customers with their Ofgem application and make the process more straightforward. We offer 3.5p for every unit of electricity generated."

More than 300 homes, schools, farms and businesses throughout Northern Ireland are already on NIE Energy's Generation tariff.

Frances McCandless from south Belfast is one such customer, who recently installed a solar photovoltaic (PV) array on her Kimberly Drive home. "I had been thinking about installing a renewable for a while and had looked into the various technologies" - she said. "PV made the most sense and I'm looking forward to getting some money back from the electricity it generates. Reducing my carbon footprint was also an extremely important consideration in deciding to install a renewable generator."

For more information on NIE Energy's Generation Tariff - Click Here