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34
Green Energy
2013 is the year the average business
has to get to grips with its energy
consumption. Time for inaction has passed
and organisations of all sizes are starting to
consider ways to cut their electricity bills.
The recent energy bill announcement will
help support this momentum. Ed Davey was
spot-on to highlight that cutting the amount
of electricity used in Britain’s businesses and
industry will be much cheaper than investing in
power plants to supply it.
Incentives such as plans to pay companies
for each kilowatt hour of electricity they
save will certainly encourage innovation and
behaviour change. However, unless monitoring
energy use becomes standard practice, it will be
impossible for businesses to understand where
the biggest wins can be made.
Businesses are starting to become more
aware of the tools available for measuring
and managing energy use and the benefits
that can be achieved from investing in them.
Nevertheless, we are only at the start of
the journey and businesses will need more
encouragement and support from the industry
before these tools are understood and adopted
universally.
1. Public awareness of energy efficiency
technologies will be driven by the energy
bill.
The British public is relatively unaware
of energy saving technologies. The energy
efficiency information ‘hub’ described in
the energy bill will be key to educating
consumers and businesses about the benefits
of energy efficient technologies, including
LED lighting, automation and efficient
heating. However, we can’t just leave this to
the energy suppliers. The industry as a whole
must work together to ensure that Britain
really understands how to reduce energy use.
Green energy in 2013
Interest growing in micro-generation
Brian Smithers, director of Rexel UK,
predicts an exciting new chapter for
the green energy industry in 2013.
As concern about energy security grows, a
new survey by business-to-business energy
supplier Opus Energy highlights growing
interest in micro-generation by businesses.
The YouGov survey of 1,000 SMEs conducted
in December 2012 shows that the number of
businesses expecting to introduce solar panels,
wind turbines, hydro power or anaerobic
digestion grew from 32% in 2011 to 39%
last year.
Almost half of these (48%) expect to
generate their own renewable energy within
a two-year time-frame: in Opus Energy’s
2011 survey, 26% were looking to introduce
renewable energy within five years. One sixth
(15%) said that they were already generating
renewable power compared to 6% in 2011.
Opus Energy says that these findings are
supported by growing business interest in its
renewable power purchase agreements (PPAs).
PPAs, under which Opus Energy purchases
excess renewable power from businesses that it
then supplies to its own customers, are a useful
source of additional income.
When asked what it would take to encourage
them to generate renewable power themselves,
52% of respondents said a government grant
or subsidy; 46% said proof that the investment
would make money; and 23% said taxes/
penalties for not doing so.
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A separate Populus survey of more than
2,000 adults sponsored by industrial marketing
and PR company Cadence Fisher suggests that
the benefits of micro-generation are not purely
financial.
Seven in ten (70%) people questioned for
The Attitudes to UK Industry Study
said that a
‘badge’ should be awarded to companies that
use cleaner and more renewable sources of
energy. More than four in ten (41%) said they
trusted companies that invest in renewable
energy more than those that don’t; and more
than one in three (35%) said they would be
willing to pay a little more for goods and
services if the supplier was known to be
investing the extra into more sustainable
sources of energy.
www.attitudestoukindustry.co.uk
Knocknain Farm in Scotland sells 100% of its
330KW wind turbine’s power – enough to
power 37 SMEs for a year – to Opus Energy.
Seize the day
Solarlec is urging businesses to take
advantage of the £550 million Siemens
Energy Efficiency Financing Scheme set up
to help businesses finance renewable energy
solutions such as biomass and solar systems.
The lease payment scheme supported by
the Carbon Trust is designed to give businesses
the benefits of a long-term investment
without a large capital outlay. Siemens funds
the installation and leases the system to the
business. Subsidies from schemes like the
feed-in tariff and Renewable Heat Incentive go
towards the lease payments until the business
owns the system outright.
Solarlec director Nick Keighley said: “Not
only does the scheme make great business
sense but it helps businesses reduce their
carbon emissions too. The fund is limited to
£550 million and it will be allocated on a first
come, first served basis so we urge businesses
to make the most of this limited opportunity
before it’s too late.”
0800 022 4083
2. This is the year people will start to believe
in the Green Deal.
Support for the Green
Deal has got off to a sluggish start, with lack
of awareness being the major stumbling
block. A recent Rexel survey found that
96% of Brits have never heard of or do not
understand the Green Deal. However, DECC
recently announced that it had secured £2.9
million to raise awareness of the scheme
which should help build understanding. Once
the big contracts start coming through,
confidence in the Green Deal will grow.
Seeing real life examples and success stories
will give this important incentive a much
needed boost.
3. Q1 2013 will see a surge of large-scale
PV installations.
The Renewable Obligation
Certificate (ROC), the commercial equivalent
of the Feed-in-tariff, will start to be
reduced from April this year. Similar to the
phenomenon experienced at the beginning
of 2012 as a result of the predicted cut in
FITs, this is likely to prompt a rush of projects
as people try to get in ahead of the deadline.
The knock-on effect of the ROC reduction is
that the green energy industry will have to
work harder than ever to demonstrate that
solar still yields good ROI and is a strong
long-term investment.