Britain to launch new program to pay households for their unused renewable energy

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain will launch a new program to pay households producing energy from renewable sources, such as solar panels, for their surplus electricity, the government said on Sunday. .

Solar panels were installed in approximately 800,000 British homes. This system will replace the guaranteed feed-in tariff system that ended in April.

"The new smart export guarantee will ensure households who choose to become green energy producers receive a payment for the electricity supplied to the grid," said Minister of Energy and Clean Growth, Chris Skidmore.

The monthly installation of new solar panels in Britain reached its lowest level in nine years in April, after the end of the feed-in tariff system, according to provisional government data.

Under the new system, households will be paid for the energy they produce from their energy supplier, which sets the prices offered.

"If households with panels and batteries can store electricity and sell it when they need it most, we could see some homes with negative electricity bills," said Greg Jackson, CEO of British energy supplier number of suppliers already offering an export tariff.

The new guarantee will apply to homes with renewable energy capacity up to 5 megawatts installed, followed by smart metering.

The government will put in place legislation to make this program mandatory for any energy supplier with more than 150,000 customers as of January 1, 2020, said the Department of Energy, Energy and Energy. industrial strategy.

Energy brand Challenger, Bulb and E.ON, also offer some customers export rates.