Regulation changes will allow supermarkets to sell low-cost plug-in solar panels “as soon as possible”, which families can put on their balconies or outdoor spaces, reducing the amount of electricity taken from the grid and cutting energy bills.
The government also announced that its next annual renewables auction will be brought forward to July after the most recent round delivered record levels of new solar and onshore wind projects.
Furthermore, the next round of devolved funding for local mayors to deliver home upgrades under the Warm Homes Plan will be accelerated so households can get upgrades like solar panels, insulation and heat pumps faster.
This comes just days after the International Energy Agency warned that the Middle East war had created the “largest supply disruption in the history of oil markets”, with prices exceeding $100 a barrel.
The Competition and Markets Authority has since set out plans to step up monitoring of the road fuel sector to identify any signs that fuel stations are exploiting the situation, such as price gouging.
Energy secretary Ed Miliband said: “Global events demonstrate there’s not a moment to waste in our drive for clean power because there can be no energy security while we are so dependent on fossil fuels.
“I’m announcing a series of initiatives to speed up our clean power mission: bringing forward the next renewables auction just months after our most successful ever, announcing that plug-in solar will be available for the first time in Britain, and speeding up our Warm Homes Plan.
“Everything we are doing is about one purpose: fighting the corner of the British people by taking back control of our energy.”
Plug-in solar is already widely used in homes across Europe, with Germany seeing around half a million new devices plugged in last year alone. The free solar power can be safely plugged into a mains socket like any other device, at no extra cost.
The government has also announced that, following the implementation of the Fingleton Review into speeding up the building of nuclear power stations, it will apply the lessons of the review to other infrastructure, such as renewables.
This comes after the Climate Change Committee recently revealed that a single fossil fuel price shock of the magnitude seen in 2022 is likely to be more expensive for the UK than the total cost of achieving net zero by 2050.
Chair Nigel Topping said: “In light of current world events, it’s more important than ever for the UK to move away from being reliant on volatile foreign fossil fuels, to clean, domestic, less wasteful energy."
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Chris Seekings is the Deputy Editor of ISEP’s Transform magazine, which is published biomonthly for ISEP members. Chris’s role involves writing sustainability-related news, features and interviews, as well as helping to plan and manage the magazine’s other day-to-day activities.
