Social Landlord Cartrefi Conwy becomes the first to deploy Social Energy Systems to reduce tenants’ electricity bills.
After successfully deploying over 6,800 smart solar battery systems in the able to pay market, Social Energy has been selected by Cartrefi Conwy, the North Wales based Registered Social Landlord (RSL).
Social Energy’s virtual power plant connected solar battery technology has already been verified by the Energy Saving Trust to reduce domestic electric bills by an average of 70%. The company’s unique savings are now being repurposed to provide bankable revenues for RSLs and local authorities across the UK, with Cartrefi Conwy the first to have systems installed as a pilot, on a prospective 3,000 home project.
Tenants who live in social housing use 30% of their disposable income to heat their homes. With energy bills set to increase this year on average by £139, it’s important, now more than ever to make a change for their tenants. The increase in fuel prices is set to be compounded by a move to cleaner heat sources through electrification, which some fear could increase overall costs to heat the home. This opinion was recently voiced by rebel Tory MPs, led by Craig McKinlay, who say they fear the costs of tackling climate change will harm poor families the most.
With the combination of on-roof solar generation, battery storage and demand response services, Cartrefi Conwy has chosen Social Energy as they provide significant savings on tenants’ bills, whilst optimising behaviour around the air source heat pumps used to heat their properties.
Social Energy work with landlords to define the right strategy for them, with three core offerings, focussing around:
- Creating a financial return for landlords whilst reaching SAP obligations
- Creating the lowest bills for tenants, with the ability to share savings across their portfolio
- Allowing landlords to get a funded system, backed by Social Energy and their financier CarVal, to facilitate mass deployment.
Cartrefi Conwy will look to deploy what they see as the fairest solution for tenants, reducing their bills to allow for increased tenant wellbeing. After initially setting out to work together in early 2020, the deployment has seen significant delays due to COVID-19, but both parties are now ready to proceed and install the first systems in their rollout.
Cartrefi Conwy CEO, Andrew Bowden said: “Whilst it’s imperative for us to reach SAP targets across our portfolio, our main focus is to ensure that we provide good quality homes that are affordable to live in.
“With the cost of energy being at an all-time high, we must try and find new solutions that will help minimise utility bills and keep our tenants out of fuel poverty. This new and exciting technology from Social Energy will hopefully help us achieve this for our tenants, and with the battery storage and trading options, we can’t wait to see the full potential this system has to offer.
“The main focus of our project with Social Energy is to ensure that we get smarter with energy consumption and production in our tenants’ homes; to help plan and prepare for the decarbonised future of housing.”
Social Energy Co-Founder, Julian Wiley commented: “Making battery storage economically viable at the residential level has been a massive challenge over the past several years, but we now have a system that allows the unit economics to work for social housing organisations across the UK. Having worked first-hand in this project, I’m excited to see the impact that we can have for Cartrefi Conwy tenants.
“We are currently in talks with several large RSLs and buying groups in the sector and expect our phenomenal partnership with Cartrefi Conwy to be the first of many Social Energy Social Housing installations over the next 12 months.”
