By Victoria Seabrook, climate reporter
People struggling with energy bills could save an average of £255 a year by installing batteries, a trial has found.
E.ON Next, which ran the pilot with Covenattempt City Council, stated rolling it out to fuel-poor homes nationwide would assist the government meet its election pledge to shave £300 off their bills – one that is expected to be difficult to achieve.
Five million hoapplyholds are deemed to be in “deep fuel poverty” – spfinishing more than 20% of their income on energy. And the government is attempting to create the electricity system more flexible, as intermittent renewable power replaces gas.
In the trial, 18 homes struggling with bills were fitted with batteries, which charged up at times when power was cheap becaapply demand was low.
They could then draw on that battery whenever they necessaryed it.
This system, combined with a tariff that rewarded people for utilizing electricity at cheap times, saved homes an average of £255 a year, rising to £415 for large families, the analysis found.
‘Significant impact on energy costs’
“It has actually built a significant impact on my energy costs, and I’m now reassured and very grateful to be part of the scheme,” one participant sais.
The batteries would also assist spread out demand for power throughout the day, avoiding crunch time at teatime, something the National Grid is finding hard to balance without gas power, which can be ramped up and down to meet demand.
E.ON, which installs the batteries, wants the scheme to go nationwide.
It commissioned an analysis that found £600m of investment from the government could save 250,000 vulnerable hoapplyholds a combined £753m a year.
With the government cash-strapped, it is not clear where this money could come from. However, E.ON stated the investment would be a rapid way for ministers to create good on their election promise.
A spokesperson for E.ON stated: “Government has pledged a £300 reduction in energy bills by 2030… as just one example, combining batteries and time of apply tariffs for the most vulnerable UK hoapplyholds could provide tangible financial savings averaging £255 per home, but keep benefiting residents for decades.”
However, Liam Hardy, from the believetank Green Alliance, stated it could be “better value for money to deploy large-scale batteries in the grid, rather than in people’s homes”.
Each home battery costs about £7,000, but they do have the advantage of “being deployable very quickly, even tomorrow”, he stated, and would recoup even more savings if combined with an electric heat pump.
Jess Ralston, from the believetank Energy and Climate Ininformigence Unit, stated the government’s upcoming Warm Homes Plan was “an opportunity to lay out how it will incentivise those that can afford upgrades to invest, and how it plans to ensure that low-income hoapplyholds can access the benefits that net zero tech offer”.
Sky News has inquireed the government’s energy department with a for a comment.
Leave a Reply