Considering a decentralised energy solution
The UK is operating in a highly competitive world, one in which the cost of energy can have an enormous impact on our ability to take on and win against our global competitors. And yet, attempts to reduce energy consumption all-too-often run into the familiar road blocks. The UK’s ageing and inefficient asset base is one barrier, but so are capex constraints and the perceived technical obstacles of implementing many of the potential solutions.
New opportunities, such as demand side response (DSR), gas and renewable generation offer a tantalising glimpse of a decentralised energy future in which companies generate their own energy, and sell their surplus back to the grid. But, for a variety of reasons, there is an understandable reluctance to make the not insignificant jump to a decentralised solution.
Industry report
As part of our 2019 industry report - ‘Bridging the Energy Gap' - we surveyed 200 key energy decision-makers across industry on their views on decentralised energy in the UK.
The report engages with a number of issues, including electricity pricing, energy security and usage, attempts to reduce consumption, the appetite to move towards a decentralised solution, and barriers to adoption.
The report also looks at finance and incentives, with a contribution from Caroline Bragg, Policy Manager at the Association of Decentralised Energy.
“The statistics from this report show that that UK industry has yet to realise how it can benefit from secure, cost-effective and efficient decentralised energy solutions,” said Chris Rason, Aggreko Managing Director, Northern Europe. “Yet by highlighting these opportunities, and how they can be enjoyed with low exposure to risk, the report may be the start of a sea-change in how industry views decentralised energy."