Bringing the benefits of the energy transition to all – our innovation challenge

"How might we bring the benefits of the energy transition to a broader range of households and communities, beyond high-income homeowners?”

That’s the challenge we’re setting to some of London’s SMEs and start-ups as part of the Mayor of London's Better Futures Net Zero Innovation Challenge.

As a playmaker in the #energytransition we’re proud to be one of a number of large and well-known businesses taking part in in joining the Better Futures Innovation Challenge to find ways of overcoming the tough challenge of reaching net zero.

We are involved because we want to tap into the innovative power of the start-up community in London – we don’t have all the answers but given E.ON’s scale and focus on innovation for customers we can help to amplify new solutions and opportunities, especially when that power is directed towards bringing the benefits of the energy transition to a wider section of society.

We expect to see some genuine innovations that we could test practically with customers, similar to a number of innovations that are currently being delivered around the country:

• Our Coventry battery trial is a package of support for some of our most vulnerable customers, designed to make their homes more energy efficient and cheaper to run.
  E.ON Next will bring together direct financial support to ease debts in the short term while also providing free energy efficiency measures, sustainable solutions such as solar panels and batteries, plus a brand-new time-of-use tariff to help customers sustainably lower their energy use and bills into the future.
  A battery can be charged using cheaper electricity at off peak times and stored for use at peak times when power is more expensive, and a time-of-use tariff which makes the most of this technology by offering customers the best value depending on when they use electricity

• Our partnership with Australian startup Amber is a great opportunity for customers to turn their energy use into a profitable endeavour.
  Amber's pioneering technology is set to change the way UK households and businesses interact with energy, for example allowing them to take advantage of when electricity prices are lower during off-peak periods or when generation and supply to the grid is higher than demand.
  This ground-breaking approach has the potential to reduce energy bills, while also enabling users to sell surplus energy back to the grid when prices are high effectively turning energy into a revenue stream.

As our CEO, Chris Norbury, said recently, the energy transition has the potential to ensure we change energy from being a significant cause of poverty to something that is a lever to help lift people out of poverty.

By addressing such a challenge nationally, we could transform people's relationship with energy, addressing affordability not just once, but permanently – for example redirecting existing funding sources away from short-term sticking plasters to a new subscription approach that delivers benefits and savings year after year.

Led by the Greater London Authority and funded by UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, the Better Futures Innovation Challenge is an opportunity for SMEs and Established Businesses to create partnerships that explore the application of cutting-edge solutions.

• A unique chance to work with 10 of the world’s leading businesses
• The challenge to speed up the transition to net zero
• The chance to speed growth and scale up climate technology innovation

Next steps are the chance to pitch your offering on 16^th October to key decision makers in each established business. We’ll be there. Will you?