SEG eligibility

The SEG is the framework under which participating electricity suppliers pay eligible small-scale generators for electricity exported to the grid. It has operated in Great Britain since 1 January 2020.

SEG is not a single government-set tariff. Each SEG licensee sets its own rate, contract length and commercial conditions. A compliant SEG rate must remain above zero, and an eligible generator is entitled to payment based on actual export-meter readings.

The basic eligibility test

An application must cover an eligible installation in Great Britain and satisfy four practical tests:

The generating technology and its Total Installed Capacity (TIC) are within the SEG limits.
The installation, and where required its installer, is suitably certified.
Export is measured by a meter capable of half-hourly measurement.
The installation has an export MPAN and is not receiving another prohibited export payment for the same electricity.

The SEG licensee assesses the application and provides the export contract. The company that pays for export does not have to supply the property’s imported electricity or gas.

Eligible technologies and capacity

The five eligible technologies are:

solar PV
wind
hydro
anaerobic digestion
micro combined heat and power (micro-CHP)

Solar PV, wind, hydro and anaerobic digestion must have a TIC no greater than 5MW. Micro-CHP must be no greater than 50kW. The limit concerns the whole installation, not merely the amount exported after a control system has applied an export cap.

SEG applies in England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland is outside the scheme.

Anaerobic-digestion installations have additional Ofgem sustainability and reporting requirements. A household solar installation does not have those declarations.

What “suitably certified” means

For solar PV, wind and micro-CHP installations of 50kW or less, Ofgem’s generator guidance requires suitable certification for both the installation and the installer. An MCS certificate is the normal evidence, but the rules recognise schemes equivalent to MCS. Ofgem refers to accreditation in accordance with EN 45011 or EN ISO/IEC 17065:2012 where there is no MCS certificate.

If suitable certification cannot be demonstrated, a SEG licensee is not obliged to offer a SEG tariff. It may still choose to make a commercial export offer or accept an alternative route, so the applicant should ask what evidence that particular supplier accepts rather than assume retrospective MCS certification is the only possible answer.

For solar PV, wind or micro-CHP above 50kW, the installation must be suitably certified but installer certification is not a separate SEG requirement. The same installation-certification requirement applies to hydro and anaerobic digestion up to 5MW. The supplier has discretion over how it satisfies itself for those larger or other-technology installations.

Certification for SEG and distribution-network permission are different checks. A certificate does not prove that the DNO connection process was completed, and a G98 notification or G99 acceptance does not replace the SEG certification evidence.

Export meter and export MPAN

SEG pays for measured export, not estimated generation. The export meter must sit at the point where the installation connects to the distribution network, be capable of half-hourly measurement and have an export MPAN.

A suitable smart meter is the usual domestic route, but the rule is about the meter’s capability rather than the label “smart”. Ofgem’s guidance allows a meter that is not read remotely, provided the generator and SEG licensee agree how readings will be taken. A SEG licensee does not have to start payments until it has access to, or has received, the relevant export readings.

The export MPAN is separate from the import MPAN shown on the electricity bill. The SEG supplier normally checks or arranges the export registration during the application. A DNO letter showing the generation connection has been accepted or notified is commonly required because it establishes the network position, but it is not itself the export contract.

Feed-in Tariff interaction

An accredited Feed-in Tariff (FIT) installation can keep its FIT generation payments and receive SEG export payments. It must first opt out of FIT export payments. FIT export and SEG export cannot both be claimed for the same installation and capacity.

The FIT licensee and SEG licensee can be different companies. Keep written confirmation of the FIT export end date and the SEG start date. Ofgem’s FIT guidance allows the export opt-in or opt-out choice to be changed no more than once every 12 months after the initial anniversary restriction, so it is not a decision to make on a short-lived tariff headline.

Batteries and other generation on site

A battery does not automatically make a site ineligible. The difficulty is establishing what the export meter is measuring.

Where the same meter can record electricity from an eligible generator and from a non-eligible source, such as a grid-charged battery or standby generator, the SEG licensee is not obliged to pay under the standard rules for that mixed export. It can choose to:

pay for all of it
decline to pay for it
require additional metering
deduct or apportion the ineligible part using an agreed method

The supplier’s battery policy and the single-line diagram therefore matter. “Battery export is covered by SEG” is not a universal rule, and neither is “battery export is excluded”.

If eligible capacity using the same technology is added, the revised TIC remains the figure tested against that technology’s SEG limit. If a different eligible technology is connected through the same export meter, Ofgem treats it as a separate installation with its own capacity limit, but the export arrangement still has to let the licensee meet its payment and metering obligations.

Supplier and tariff conditions

Electricity suppliers with at least 150,000 domestic customers at the relevant annual assessment date must participate as mandatory SEG licensees. Smaller suppliers can participate voluntarily. Ofgem publishes a new licensee list for each SEG year, so an old list should not be treated as current.

A SEG licensee must have a compliant offer for eligible generators, but it can also offer other export tariffs with additional conditions. Higher rates may require the same supplier for import, a particular import tariff or an installation bought from that supplier or partner. Those are commercial access conditions, not basic SEG eligibility rules.

The import and export contracts remain legally and operationally separate. Leaving a tied import tariff can nevertheless end access to its associated premium export rate, so read the export contract’s eligibility and termination clauses before switching either side.

Applying without creating a payment gap

The core scheme evidence is suitable certification, a qualifying export meter and an export MPAN. In practice, suppliers may also ask for:

proof that the applicant owns the system or is entitled to its exported electricity
the DNO G98 notification or G99 acceptance
meter details, photographs and an opening export reading
a single-line diagram, particularly where storage is present
proof of address and payment details
confirmation that no other supplier or FIT licensee is paying for the same export

Processing times and backdating rules are supplier-specific. There is no universal SEG application duration and no scheme-wide promise that payment begins when an installer commissions the system. Submit complete evidence, obtain the written SEG contract and confirm the effective date before assuming any export is being paid.

The contract must explain its payment, termination, switching and complaint arrangements, along with the generator’s duties to report changes such as ownership or added capacity. Payment frequency is not fixed by the SEG legislation.