Update 6 January: The energy and climate department (DECC) has named the two companies: Sheffield-based umbrella manufacturer Booth Brothers, and Broadgate Farm Cottages in Beverley, east Yorkshire. The latter is using a heat pump to heat five holiday cottages

Two buildings using heat pumps have become the first approved sites under the government’s subsidy scheme for renewable heat.

The renewable heat incentive (RHI) pays the owners of equipment such as biomass boilers a tariff for each kilowatt hour of heat they generate. It opened for applications in November after several delays (ENDS Report, December 2011) and currently only applies to non-domestic installations.

The energy regulator Ofgem administers the incentive. According to its online project database, a 24-kilowatt peak capacity water-source heat pump and a 4kW ground-source heat pump have been accredited to receive payments. Ofgem would not say who the companies are for data protection reasons.

The level of take-up in the scheme’s first six weeks appears woeful, but it was expected. Renewable heat developers have criticised the government’s lack of publicity for the incentive (ENDS Report, September 2011).

The feed-in tariff scheme for electricity-generating renewables saw more impressive uptake levels when it was launched in 2010. Within its first ten weeks 2,000 households and businesses were claiming support (ENDS Report, June 2010).

• Uptake of government grants for households to install renewable heat equipment has also been low.

The renewable heat premium payments scheme gives homeowners grants of up to £1,250 to install ground and air-source heat pumps, solar thermal systems and biomass boilers (ENDS Report, July 2011). It launched on 1 August.

As of 18 December – the last date for which data is available – only 3,831 grants had been issued totalling £2.9m. If that rate of take-up continues, just £5.2m will have been allocated when the scheme closes in March 2012 – almost £7m under budget.

Please note this article has been republished with the kind permission of the ENDS Report.