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UK Government’s £1.5 Billion Household Energy Initiative Will Boost Adoption of Advanced Power Electronics

Help to Heat

The UK Government recently launched a program called “Help to Heat,”, which aims to significantly reduce the energy bills for approximately 130,000 low-income households across England.

The initiative will be supported with up to £1.5 billion from the Social Housing Decarbonization Fund (SHDF) and Home Upgrade Grants, allowing public housing providers and municipalities to apply for funding to upgrade 130,000 homes in low-income and public-housing neighborhoods. Qualified upgrades include external wall and loft insulation, energy efficient doors and windows, heat pumps, as well as energy-generation systems like solar panels.

While some countries are pushing for more oil and gas extraction to stabilize the energy marketplace, others are embracing alternative and green energy technologies to address the supply side of energy market instability. The Help to Heat program, on the other hand, is a clear example of an approach from the user end. More effective use of energy on a large scale provides cascading benefits throughout the marketplace. In addition, societal benefits from energy efficiency are immediately apparent to the people participating.

The UK Government is also providing additional support to help the public cope with rising energy costs following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Over the next two years, the UK Government’s Energy Price Guarantee will help reduce a typical household bill by at least £1,000 a year, based on current prices and energy usage. Furthermore, the Energy Bill Relief Scheme enables businesses, public and non-profit organizations to pay wholesale energy prices this winter.

As a part of the UK Government’s Growth Plan, these initiatives could supply as many as 19,000 green-energy sector jobs. Public housing with an Energy Performance Certificate rating of D or lower can get Social Housing Decarbonization Fund upgrades, while Home Upgrade Grant funding will help the most vulnerable low-income households in privately-owned (both rented and owner-occupied) homes off the gas grid.

The power electronics industry is embracing this energy-efficiency approach as the latest breakthroughs in semiconductors and circuit topologies are providing levels of energy efficiency not seen before. Help to Heat will enable housing associations across the country to retrofit homes with the latest and most efficient power conversion technologies.

Up to £700 million of funding is available for local authorities to install energy-efficiency upgrades in as many as 30,000 properties, with up to £800 million of SHDF Wave 2 grant funding for approximately 100,000 public housing units, with an estimated average energy bill reduction of £400 a year at current prices. The second wave of funding builds on the first wave in February 2022, which is upgrading up to 20,000 public housing properties.

Resources:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/find-energy-grants-for-you-home-help-to-heat
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/heat-and-buildings-strategy
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/net-zero-strategy

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