Energy Secretary will also offer grants for heat pumps as part of £13bn ‘warm homes fund’
Copy link
twitter
facebook
whatsapp
email
Copy link
twitter
facebook
whatsapp
email
Copy link
twitter
facebook
whatsapp
email
Copy link
twitter
facebook
whatsapp
email
Ed Miliband is planning to offer grants for solar panels and heat pumps worth up to £13bn in an attempt to create “zero bill” homes.
The Energy Secretary hopes to give millions of homeowners financial support in adopting green energy over the next four years.
Mr Miliband is reportedly due to set out plans next month for his “warm homes fund” to spend billions on solar energy, battery storage and heat pumps.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is said to believe grants could see the emergence of “zero bill” homes where householders pay nothing for power.
It is due to publish its “warm homes plan” in January, which is expected to include proposals for widespread subsidies for green energy.
The plans are likely to also include an end to restrictions on “plug-in solar panels” which cost between £180 and £300 and can be installed on balconies, patios and flat roofs.
The department hopes it will allow houses which cannot install solar panels on their roofs to benefit from the source of green energy, according to The Times.
Nigel Banks, technical director at Octopus Energy, told the newspaper that one million homes with strong insulation could reduce their bills to zero if they installed solar panels, batteries and a heat pump.
“With flexible energy tariffs, the opportunity is now there for homeowners to effectively pay no energy bills at all,” he said.
The energy supplier estimates that some homeowners could cut their bills by up to £90 a month by switching to green energy.
The Government has previously focused subsidies on improvements to energy efficiency through insulation and double glazing initiatives.
But ministers are now said to be considering a shift towards encouraging the rollout of solar power.
The warm homes plan is designed to lower bills for poorer households by hundreds of pounds per year.
Mr Miliband once pledged that household energy bills would come down by £300 a year by 2030 but later dropped the claim in a flagship policy document.
Figures published in September showed that British industry was paying the highest electricity prices in the developed world. The price paid in the UK for power was 63 per cent higher than in France and 27 per cent higher than in Germany.
Britain was the second most expensive country in the world for household electricity, after Slovakia, with households paying twice as much as those in the US.
Recommended
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: “We are investing an additional £1.5bn into our warm homes plan, taking it to nearly £15bn – the biggest ever public investment to upgrade homes and tackle fuel poverty ever.
“We are doubling down on support for home upgrades and will set out our plans to help households, and support thousands more clean energy jobs soon.”
Copy link
twitter
facebook
whatsapp
email

source