Why support for electrification is surging across Europe

17th November 2023

What does the future hold for Europe’s power? Well, as Metallica once so earnestly put it: “it’s electric.” Renewables themselves aren’t brand new technologies (businesses have been using commercial solar panels since at least the 1980s), but their global rates of adoption have been accelerating at a dizzying rate in the last decade alone.

In fact, a sizeable section of the scientific community believes won’t be too long before electric energy becomes the world’s primary source of energy. There are a couple of crucial factors influencing this, including rising social acceptance, growing policy support, and increasingly attractive economics. The rising public acceptance is in some ways no surprise, as the global energy crisis has shown no signs of easing over time – people are ready for a change.

Here in the UK, that’s perhaps best exemplified by the recent situation about energy standing charges.

What’s happening about energy standing charges?

Essentially, Ofgem has announced a review on daily standing charges on energy bills, and businesses, charities and billpayers are being encouraged to submit their views. It’s been prompted by growing frustration over the current system: right now, energy customers pay a fixed daily charge to cover the costs of connecting to a supply. However, those fees have been steadily growing. In most areas, the charge has roughly doubled over the past two years, and customers don’t have any ability to reduce what they pay.

Now, Ofgem says it wants to open up a debate over the changes, and it’s open to suggestions on how the system may be fixed. This may potentially even include the option to scrap the charge completely.

Whatever the replacement scheme will be is not going to solve the impact of the energy crisis overnight, but will hopefully give UK residents some more financial breathing space until more long-term changes take effect.

The future impact of electrification on Europe

One recent study from Goldman Sachs, no less, says that electrification has the potential to “cut European energy bills significantly.”

In the words of one researcher, “we model the full electrification system of a typical European household and conclude that switching to electric heating and electric mobility would lower the overall energy bill by more than 20%.”

That same research found that a European household investing in a new heat pump or electric vehicle could see a payback period as short as three and a half years. That would help eliminate carbon emissions from households, estimated to make up about 30% of the total carbon footprint in the EU and UK.

As part of their research, the team at Goldman Sachs looked at the relative costs that will be needed for electrification in Europe and the US. This involved comparing the costs of solar, onshore and offshore wind, power grid improvements etc. Ultimately, they found that more than 70% of electrification process in Europe over the next 10 years will be deflationary. In other words, instrumental in reducing inflation.

Their findings correlate more broadly with a general pattern of solar power becoming progressively cheaper over time. In fact, it’s one of the key advantages of solar, and widely recognised in the industry too. Between 2010 and 2019 alone, the cost of solar PV globally dropped by an incredible 82%.

In short, there’s never been a better time to revolutionise your own-site power supply, and stay at the cutting edge of the energy revolution. And that’s exactly where we can help here at Low Carbon Energy.

Our experts at Low Carbon Energy have over 60 years of combined experience in commercial solar, having helped SMEs and large corporations across a wide variety of sectors transform their business’ energy supply.

Each of our installations is bespoke, tailoring your solution on your specific energy profile, helping us to maximise carbon reductions and saving you thousands in energy bills. Feel free to look at our case studies for just a few examples of businesses which have reaped huge rewards from solar, such as Boeing and Irish Water. To find out how we can help you, feel free to give us a call today on 01282 421 489!

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