Table of contents:

01 – Government urged to launch National Energy Guarantee – The scheme aims to protect essential energy needs at a low cost while applying a premium to higher usage levels, according to experts

02 – UK factories to swap gas for green hydrogen in sustainability drive – The parent company of household brands such as Kleenex is partnering with Octopus Energy’s green hydrogen joint venture for two of its UK factories

03 -SMEs get green light for energy reduction programme – Tower Hamlets SMEs can benefit from a new Energy Reduction Programme to reduce energy costs and carbon footprint, with successful applicants receiving

04 -More Brits using alternative fuels for their homes will be handed a £200 boost – The government has decided to extend the Alternative Fuel Payment

05 – Ofgem unveils buy-out price and mutualisation – ceilings for 2023-24 ROC – The cost to buy out Renewables Obligation Certificates for the 2023-24 obligation period is £59.01

01 – Government urged to launch National Energy Guarantee

The government‘s support for energy bills has “failed” households and by April 2024 even the existing “inadequate” support will be gone, leaving bills potentially 70% above pre-crisis levels.

That’s according to the think tank New Economics Foundation, which proposes a new scheme – a ‘national energy guarantee’ – that protects essential energy needs at a low cost, while applying a premium to higher usage.

This system will benefit all households, with a safety net placed under their essential energy needs, and the premium price acting as an incentive for domestic investment in energy efficiency and renewables, NEF has said.

The proposal involves two or three price tiers, with a minimum allocation of energy priced at 50% below pre-crisis levels, allowances and a social tariff to protect low-income households.

Experts have said this proposal can deliver highly progressive and targeted outcomes, with the poorest 30% of the population seeing the largest gains.

They note that the scheme is a more efficient and effective way of delivering government support where needed, with a similar cost to recent windfall taxes on energy producers.

The think tank believes that urgent reform is needed to the UK’s energy billing system and sustained financial support to households facing fuel poverty

02 – UK factories to swap gas for green hydrogen in sustainability drive

Kimberly-Clark, the parent company of household brands like Andrex, Kleenex, and Huggies, is teaming up with Octopus Energy Generation’s green hydrogen joint venture HYRO to replace industrial gas boilers with green hydrogen at two of its manufacturing facilities in Wales and Kent, UK.

The project is part of HYRO’s £3 billion joint venture with renewable energy company RES to help industrial businesses embrace green hydrogen and reduce emissions.

The on-site electrolysers will use electricity from renewable sources to create green hydrogen, which will be stored and fed into hydrogenready boilers inside the factories, replacing natural gas-fuelled boilers.

This is predicted to reduce thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year for Kimberly-Clark.

The two electrolyser projects will have a combined capacity of 22.5MW and will create heat needed in the manufacturing processes for tissues and toilet paper.

The two projects in Wales and Kent have won places on the government’s shortlist for funding, which will further accelerate the UK’s clean hydrogen economy.

Alex Brierley, Co-Head of Octopus Energy Generation’s fund management team, stated that hydrogen produced from home-grown clean energy like wind and solar can be a winning solution for heavy industries that cannot electrify.

03 – SMEs get green light for energy reduction programme

Tower Hamlets SMEs have been given the go-ahead for an Energy Reduction Programme, which aims to help them cut costs and reduce their carbon footprint.

The council has invested £185,000 to launch the free programme and applications are now open.

Successful applicants will receive an on-site energy audit and a customised reduction plan from an experienced energy consultant. Interactive workshops will also be available to businesses to learn more about energy efficiency.

Businesses that follow the plan and reduce their energy use will be eligible for a £2,500 grant to install energy-reducing technology.

The programme is a pilot and is being delivered in partnership with BetterFutures+, a scheme funded by the Greater London Authority to support London’s transition to net zero.

The aim is to help 50 businesses in Tower Hamlets reduce their energy consumption by 25%, with the possibility of extending the programme to include more businesses in the future.

Mayor Lutfur Rahman said that the Energy Reduction Programme was vital to help SMEs tackle rising energy prices and the cost of living crisis.

04 – More Brits using alternative fuels for their homes will be handed a £200 boost

The UK Government has extended its support scheme for households using alternative fuels such as heating oil, LPG and biomass.

Energy Secretary Grant Shapps has granted an extra three months, until June 2022, for applicants to evidence fuel purchases, allowing them to claim the £200 energy bill support they are entitled to until May 2023.

Most alternative fuel users will receive payments automatically, but those needing to apply can now submit up to ten receipts.

The move follows the government’s earlier decision to double the number of receipts that households can use to claim the Alternative Fuel Payment.

Mr Shapps said the move recognised the winter fuel price increases and ensured those who bulk-bought weren’t unfairly penalised.

05 – Ofgem unveils buy-out price and mutualisation ceilings for 2023-24 ROC

The cost to buy out Renewables Obligation Certificates for the 2023-24 obligation period is £59.01 05 Renewable energy suppliers in the UK have been informed that the buy-out price for the 2023-24 obligation period will be £59.01 per Renewables Obligation Certificate (ROC).

This is part of the government’s ongoing efforts to encourage green energy production and reduce carbon emissions.

The ROCs provide suppliers with an obligation to present evidence of the amount of electricity supplied from renewable sources.

For each ROC they fail to present, suppliers will be required to pay the buy-out price.

However, if there is a relevant shortfall in the buy-out fund, mutualisation will be triggered, which will enable the government to spread the cost of the shortfall across all electricity suppliers, regardless of whether or not they have met their obligation to present ROCs.

Ofgem has said the mutualisation ceilings for the 2023-24 obligation period are £355,489,397.56 in England and Wales and £35,548,939.74 in Scotland.

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