11:00 Esther McVey (Conservative)

That this House has considered decarbonising homes and heat batteries.

As I have explained, we have become addicted to gas over a number of years, which is why my constituents in Ealing Southall are consistently paying higher energy prices and struggling to heat their homes. We should have started work years ago on breaking our addiction to gas by investing in our own renewable energy and upgrading our homes to use that energy, but the previous Government never had the bravery to take action at the scale that is needed. Instead, they stopped us producing cheap British-made energy by blocking the building of onshore wind farms and by cutting funding for solar panels.

We need to wean our home heating systems off gas, in the same way that we need to wean the country off gas when it comes to renewable energy. The recent Budget invested £3.4 billion as a first step in the warm homes plan. Heat pumps, which will benefit from some of that money, are a great way to wean us off gas. They use electricity rather than gas, so they can be fed from home-grown energy from our wind and solar farms.

Like many residents of rural areas on an off-grid oil heating system, my constituent Nicholas in Sparkford desperately wants to change to a heat pump, but it would cost him £19,000 to transition. The cost is preventing so many people in rural areas from decarbonising their home. I appreciate that the Government are taking steps to help, but in rural areas the cost is simply too high. What can the Government do to incentivise people who live in rural areas to decarbonise their home?

That is where innovative British firms such as Kensa in Cornwall and Tepeo in Reading come in. Both companies use heat batteries, using the same science that is behind hand-warmer packs, to store thermal energy until it is needed. Tepeo’s zero emission boiler, ZEB, uses a heat battery that automatically buys energy at cheaper times of day and releases it when required, reducing energy bills. Users do not need an outside pump; they just need a box about the size of a gas boiler. Because of their small size and their ability to plug and play without needing to do replumbing, heat batteries are a good solution for heating homes in built-up urban environments like London, including parts of Ealing Southall.

I thank my hon. Friend for securing this debate. I was lucky recently to visit Kensa’s air source heat pumps in Sutton Dwellings in Chelsea. I have also visited Tepeo’s factory; it is great to see the chief executive officer in the Public Gallery today. Does my hon. Friend agree that for heat batteries to enjoy the same penetration of the market as heat pumps, it is important that they benefit from VAT relief and the same levels of subsidy so that we can decarbonise our heating?

I thank the hon. Member for giving way and for securing this important debate. My constituency has one of the highest levels of off-gas-grid properties in the UK, with over a third of my constituents dependent on heating oil to keep their homes warm. Does the hon. Member agree that it is vital that the Government bring forward plans to help off-grid homes to decarbonise not only to help the environment, but to help to bring their bills down?

We need to look at the electricity market to see if there are ways of splitting off the price of cheaper renewable energy from the price of gas to reflect the true value of energy storage. I hope to hear more from the Minister on that point, as part of the review on the electricity market that she has committed to undertake.

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11:20 Miatta Fahnbulleh (Labour)

We recognise that heat batteries are a promising alternative electric heating technology. That is why we have launched the homes for net zero project, which is aiming to monitor the performance of up to 50 heat batteries in existing homes. We are expecting the results of that later this year. The key thing for us as we make the decision is whether it is a good deal for consumers. Is it efficient, is it cost-effective, and does it deliver the right outcomes—the outcomes that we need to see in people’s homes? As we build that evidence base and we build our confidence that it is the right proposition for consumers, we will look to review the policy framework, including subsidies, as we move forward.

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