Powering up: Adding battery storage could transform ECO5 scheme for households
Including batteries in future ECO schemes could help the UK achieve the demand-side energy flexibility it needs for net zero.
Whether we’re looking at individual households, or the UK as a whole, domestic battery storage can make a big difference to how we use and pay for energy.
At the national scale, batteries are set to be a vital part of the energy transition. Renewable energy sources like solar and wind cannot be called upon to generate energy on demand in the same way as fossil fuels, but storing surplus renewable power can help make sure we’ve got enough even when the sun and wind aren’t shining or blowing.
In short, the key to making renewables work for the UK is flexibility, and the kind of flexibility domestic batteries offer can also bring major benefits to individual households.
By combining batteries with a smart meter and tariffs that include time-of-use and export rates, energy customers are empowered to buy and store more renewable electricity when it’s cheapest. They can then choose to use this power when buying from the grid is more expensive, or even export it for payment.
In this way, batteries can turn energy consumers into active market participants – or flexsumers – giving them more control over their energy bills. When customers receive their batteries at no upfront cost – as we’re currently trialling as part of our award-winning Coventry battery pilot – this can have an especially positive impact for customers who are financially vulnerable.
The benefits of battery storage
As part of our ongoing partnership with Coventry City Council, we’ve been running a pilot in the city to install batteries in the homes of financially vulnerable people at no upfront cost. Why? The numbers speak for themselves:
- At the moment, the cost of procuring and installing a domestic battery system is roughly £3,000, and prices are coming down all the time.
- With a smart meter and time-of-use tariff, the average UK household stands to save between £250 and £300 a year.
- The average battery has a lifespan of roughly 20 years.
This means that, even at no upfront cost, installing batteries in people’s homes can save money in the long term. It can even provide greater savings for vulnerable customers than existing schemes like the Warm Home Discount.
The impact of adding batteries to ECO5
Given the savings domestic batteries can offer to individual households, and the additional flexibility they can bring to the energy system as a whole, over the coming years we want to see as many units installed in UK homes as possible – especially those needing help with their bills.
The Government’s current ECO4 scheme exists to help low-income households and vulnerable customers avoid fuel poverty by providing home upgrades such as insulation, heat pumps, and solar panels, all of which can make a significant difference to customer bills.
When ECO4 expires in 2026, the Government can go one step further, building more flexibility into the grid while offering even greater support to vulnerable customers by making batteries one of the upgrade measures offered by the successor scheme, ECO5.
In the meantime, we’ll keep installing batteries in homes – just like we're doing in Crowle and Starbeck as part of our new partnership with Northern Powergrid – and making the case that storage of all sizes can help make new energy work.
To find out more about the importance of flexibility for Britain’s energy future, go here.