From the outside, Elmore House in Brixton, south London, looks like a fairly typical social housing estate. But the 62-flat block will be the site of an advanced energy project to test whether households in Britain could in coming years reduce their reliance on large utility companies and buy and sell their electricity to neighbours. “Peer-to-peer” trading is already well established in other industries, such as financial services. But Britain’s energy system is still based on households buying their electricity or gas from one supplier, with limited control over how to reduce costs other than to shop around for better deals. That is likely to change in coming years, according to analysts, who say households will increasingly buy their energy from local sources, such as neighbours or local businesses that generate their own electricity via solar panels or wind turbines. Or they will purchase it as part of a bundle of services, such as through a home assistant device or when they buy an electric vehicle. “We may not have much contact with our energy supplier in a few years’ time, as energy becomes a byproduct of another purchase, like an electric vehicle, or ordered via your Alexa or Dot [home assistant device],” said Simon Virley, UK head of energy and natural resources at KPMG, the consultancy. “Peer-to-peer, and other forms of local energy market trading, will also dilute the relationship we have with conventional utilities.”
FT 2nd Feb 2019 read more »
