The London Borough of Hackney has unveiled a new solar scheme which could save council tenants money on their energy bills.
From January 2025, 28 blocks across three Hackney Council housing estates will have a total of 4,000 solar panels installed, giving 800 households the opportunity to benefit from cleaner and greener energy. In what the local authority claims is the first scheme of its kind, Emergent Energy has developed an innovative microgrid solution, allowing residents of the blocks fitted with solar panels to buy power at around 15% less than the average market rate of electricity in the area. The initial solar installation will generate approximately 1MW of electricity, around one-fifth of the needs of the installed blocks.
The initial rollout of solar panels is being delivered in partnership with Hackney Light and Power and Emergent Energy, alongside support from the Greater London Authority and the UK’s energy regulator, Ofgem. The installation is being funded by a £2 million investment from Hackney Council, which the local authority states will be paid back by sales of power generated from the solar PV developments.
Hackney Council is extremely optimistic about the potential of expanding initiatives like these to other social housing projects and privately owned flats across the UK. The borough notes that if this approach is scaled up to the 5.4 million flats in the UK, including 2 million social housing flats, schemes like this one could generate as much as 6.75GW of solar energy, worth a total of £13.5 billion in clean energy investment.
“Hackney Council has a proud reputation as a leader in tackling climate change – but my priority has always been that local people here should be the first to benefit. That’s why we’re so excited to launch a new pioneering scheme that offers greener energy and lower bills for council tenants in the borough”, said Caroline Woodley, Mayor of Hackney.
Reg Platt, founder and CEO of Emergent Energy, added: “No one should miss out on the benefits of locally generated clean energy because of their income level or the type of home they live in. That’s why we created this new opportunity for residents of social housing flats to receive savings on their energy bills from rooftop solar.
“Our approach is self-funding, as this groundbreaking project in Hackney will show. This means we can deliver these benefits to potentially millions of residents without relying on government handouts.”
