As part of our transition to cleaner & better energy we are committed to providing our customers with access to new technology and microgeneration through both our newly formed Ignite business and our Sustainable Energy division.
Sustainable Energy
Our Sustainable Energy business has worked with leading house builders to develop community energy projects that will supply 10,000 homes and commercial premises throughout the UK with low carbon energy. Low carbon heat and hot water is supplied from a central energy centre and district heating network.
The Cranbrook development in Exeter is poised to be one of the largest low carbon developments in the UK, with 3,500 homes and 1.4 million ft2 of commercial and retail premises saving 130,000 tonnes of CO2 over 10 years. Once built, we’ll manage the operation, maintenance and customer service for the community.
Microgeneration projects for the social housing sector have also gathered pace and we’ve completed many large renewable solutions. These include Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing in Huddersfield, where 188 ground source heat pumps replaced old and inefficient electric storage heaters which will save residents up to 66% on their heating bills.
We’ve begun work with Tai Ceredigion Housing Association to install a mix of solar PV and thermal panels, air source heat pumps and ground source heat pumps in 42 homes. The choice of technology was based on tenant preference and optimum energy efficiency. We believe this type of multi-technology installation is the future for low carbon communities, where electricity generated from solar panels provides the power for a ground or air source heat pump. One technology complements another to maximise energy and running cost savings.
We’re involved with Stoke-on-Trent City Council in a pioneering Sustainable Energy City Partnership. It will deliver millions of pounds of investment to the city, improving the energy efficiency of homes and using renewable power to drive down residents’ bills and combat climate change. We will partner in a scheme which will see 1,000 more council and privately owned houses benefit from external wall insulation, more efficient boilers, solar panels, air source heat pumps and a district heating system. We have since signed similar deals with Exeter, Sheffield and Coventry.
We’re acting as consultants to the £100 million regeneration of the Greenwich Peninsula, which includes 10,000 homes and 3.5 million ft² of commercial space. We’re ensuring that the affordable and sustainable heat network is technically robust and financially attractive for adoption by any Energy Services Company (ESCo).
Launch of IGNITE new business stream
We established a significant new business during 2010 to develop and launch the next generation of products and services that would help customers control their energy use or generate their own power in their own homes.
Our first new product, SolarSaver Electricity, was aimed to take advantage of the Government’s Feed in Tariff, bringing the dual benefits of cheaper energy and payments for both generating power and selling it back to the grid. SolarSaver Electricity can typically save customers £100 a year on their electricity bills, and save them around 900kg of CO2 a year. Over the product’s lifetime, each customer can typically save 22 Tonnes of CO2.
We also launched SolarSaver Hot Water, helping customers to reduce their energy bills by generating their own hot water and save up to 610kg CO2 a year.
The tail end of 2010 saw IGNITE widen its portfolio of home generation products further by advising customers which heat pump E.ON could install for renewable heating and hot water in their home. Our Air Source and Ground Source heat pump products can mean customers no longer need to rely on oil or lpg fuel sources. Heat pumps enable greater self-sufficiency and minimise the exposure of oil and lpg fuel prices increasing. With each £1 spent to run the heat pump, up to £3 of heat can be produced, and 3 tonnes of carbon can be saved each year.
As well as microgeneration products, IGNITE also started to understand how to offer services such as energy audits to help reduce business customers’ bills. IGNITE has exceeded expectations on sales targets. But most importantly it’s given us a framework for developing further products to an ever more receptive market, and we’ll be continuing with this process to develop a suite of innovative and attractive low carbon energy solutions.
