NETWORK /
14
/ APRIL/MAY 2020
DECARBONISING HEAT
Electric storage
heating – a
Cinderella solution
Maxine Frerk, director, Grid Edge Policy,
explores the potential of electric storage
heating as a solution to the decarbonisation
of domestic heat and asks why it is being
overlooked
W
ith the country in
Covid-19 lockdown
it is hard to think
about, or write
about, much else.
It risks appear
-
ing to make light
of the current situation. But, personally, I
find comfort in the hope that we can take
something positive from the current extraor
-
dinary situation, to emerge in a better and
more sustainable world. And for those of us
not directly involved on the front line, it is
important to stay focussed on how we ad
-
dress what is an even bigger global threat,
albeit if less immediate, climate change.
In that spirit, I've just finished a report
on electric storage heating and the potential
role it could play in the decarbonisation
of heat. What is striking is how the issues
raised reflect a microcosm of the wider chal-
lenges that the energy sector has to address.
The first is how to decarbonise heat. The
answer is far from clear, but there are two
main pathways being debated.These are
repurposing the gas grid to carry hydrogen
Older storage heaters contributes to fuel poverty, which can be tackled with improved energy efficiency and more modern heaters