Turbines everywhere, please

Over 50 per cent of households want to generate their own power according to a survey sponsored by Utility Week magazine and management consultants Accenture. The main reason was to save money, and the environment was the second motivating factor.

The most crucial finding was the strength of appetite for microgeneration. Just over half of all participating homeowners (51 per cent) said they would be interested in generating their own power. Accenture’s UK utilities practice, had anticipated 10 to 20 per cent. Saving money was the driving factor for those interested (71 per cent). This could prove a stumbling block in the short term, given the relative high price of equipment and hence the long payback time.

Ipsos MORI conducted the research by interviewing 1,010 respondents face to face in their homes during the last week of May. The sample was nationally representative of all adults in Great Britain in terms of sex, age, region, social grade and working status.

In Scotland, some politicians are listening. More than a third of all MSPs have backed a plan for a bill aimed at enabling every new home in Scotland to have its own renewable-energy system.

Labour MSP and former environment minister Sarah Boyack is proposing to re-introduce a bill that would require all new buildings to have the capacity for small-scale electricity generation.

It would also offer incentives, such as one-off council tax and business-rate reductions, for installing renewables systems and would require the Scottish Executive to set microgeneration targets, as well as obliging local authorities to assess the role of renewables technology in sustainable energy.

Prices will tumble in three to five years, and current payback calculations do not factor in the boost that home generation can give to property prices (perhaps 5 per cent for solar) or potential revenue from exporting power back to the grid.
The second biggest driver for those interested was the desire to cut emissions (59 per cent). Climate change messages are clearly getting through, which is good news for utilities and other companies considering getting into the energy services market

Seventy per cent of those in the A/B social categories cited cutting emissions as a driver, and these people are also less likely to be put off by costs. Those aged 65 or over were far less inclined towards producing their own power than younger respondents.

Only 12 per cent were motivated by supply security, and 10 per cent by the prospect of making money by selling surplus power back to the grid. This suggests that neither looming security of supply issues, nor power export potential, have really made it into the public psyche yet.
Of those not interested in micro¬generation, not knowing enough about it was the biggest stumbling block – cited by 40 per cent of respondents. This suggests that at least some of the 49 per cent disinterested could change their minds given more information, which again points to good prospects for the microgeneration movement.

Offputting factors include startup price (28 per cent) and unsafe or unsightly equipment (11 per cent). On both fronts, the longer-term prospects for a turnaround of opinion is promising, given likely falls in the costs of equipment and greater trust/equipment acceptability as microgeneration becomes more common. Of the 49 per cent who are not currently interested in microgeneration, only 35 per cent said this was because they were completely happy with their existing electricity supplier. This is not exactly a huge endorsement for utility companies.

The Accenture/Utility Week survey also sought views on the most appealing generating technologies. Solar power proved most popular (58 per cent said it appealed to them the most), followed by wind (27 per cent). Combined heat and power trailed at 10 per cent, with biomass least popular (5 per cent

When asked how they expected to pay for the equipment, 44 per cent said they would use personal savings. Twenty-one per cent were interested in renting equipment, while 13 per cent envisaged taking out a loan.

There was surprisingly little interest in government grants (1 per cent). The government may have to do something about public awareness of any support mechanisms it offers if it is to push ahead with its low carbon future agenda. Forty-four per cent had not thought through how they would pay.

Individuals have the power to drive the success or otherwise of microgeneration. If householders have no interest in putting solar panels or a wind turbine on their roof, domestic power generation will be dead in the water for all but those who live in new-build, low-carbon houses. And that holds true no matter how the planning system is tweaked to make DIY generation easier, or by how much power export prices rise.