An innovation trial led by UK Power Networks (UKPN) in partnership with energy supplier OVO and tepeo, an electric boiler provider, has found that heat battery technology would “significantly” help the UK meet net zero targets by 2050.
‘Neat Heat’ showed that UK homes could switch to electrified heating and ease pressure on the electricity grid, which currently does not have the necessary capacity to support UK-wide electrification.
The trial ran for 18 months, ending in June this year, and saw tepeo’s Zero Emission Boiler (ZEB) product installed in 30 homes in the South East and East of England. The ZEB uses heat battery technology to shift peak energy demand for heating to off-peak times.
It uses thermal storage to ‘charge’ heating systems outside the highest-demand and highest-cost hours, storing energy as heat until it is needed and then releasing it on demand.
OVO’s part in the trial was the proposition of a tariff called a ‘type of use’, giving customers access to a cheaper than standard rate to charge their ZEBs. It also enabled customers to set their boiler to charge at off-peak times, a simple way to enable grid flexibility on the demand side.
The trial showed that 95% of participants’ yearly heating demand could be moved outside peak hours and over 90% could still be moved even in the coldest weeks in winter. According to UKPN, participants noticed no change to their heating—the ZEB differs only from a traditional boiler in that it is powered by electricity.
Head of innovation at UK Power Networks, Luca Grella, said: “The more people move to electric heating systems, the more resilient our network will need to be. Shifting demand away from peak hours will reduce the upgrades needed to keep up with the future demand of green technologies, which would ultimately have been paid for by customers across the country.”
Grainne Regan, head of heat at OVO, added: “The ability to decouple electricity consumption from heating is an essential part of decarbonising home heating. This trial represents a huge step forward in our joint mission to decarbonise the UK energy grid by 2035.”
Decarbonising heating is a critical element of the UK’s net zero ambitions, but low carbon solutions like heat pumps are not a feasible solution for every household. That said, the boiler upgrade scheme, which began in May 2022 and sees grants offered to households upgrading from a gas boiler to a heat pump, is doing a lot to accelerate the electrification of heating.
Other ways of decarbonising heating include establishing heat networks. One such case is Leeds Pipes, a heat network developed in partnership between Leeds City Council, Vital Energi and Ener-Vate, which provides homes, businesses and public buildings in Leeds with low carbon heat and hot water using recycled heat from a nearby Recycling and Energy Recovery Facility.
