Can we retrofit our way to clean power?

Britain’s streets are a patchwork quilt of characterful homes – from charming cottages and Edwardian townhouses to boxy 70s bungalows and high-rise flats. It’s part of what makes the UK so unique… but it’s also one of our biggest barriers to clean power.

Because while the Government’s future homes standard is a big step forward (and we welcome it) it won’t touch the millions of older homes already built – homes that leak heat, rack up bills, and are difficult to modernise.

So the question is: how do we make sure it’s not just new-build homeowners who benefit from the clean energy transition? How do we ensure no one gets left behind?

The answer: retrofitting. It’s another of those industry terms that can leave people baffled, but the short version is it’s helping to improve and future-proof homes up and down the country with a toolkit of low-carbon (and cost cutting) upgrades.

And at E.ON, we’re already on the case, here’s how…

1. Insulation – keeping the heat where it belongs

Insulation may not be glamorous, but it’s one of the most powerful tools in the toolbox when it comes to healthier, more comfortable and cheaper-to-run homes.

A quarter of a home’s heat can disappear through an uninsulated roof, and around a third through its walls. That’s money quite literally drifting out the window.

Insulation works year-round, keeping things cool in summer and cosy in winter. The result means lower bills, fewer draughts, and homes that are healthier and easier to heat.

We’ve been working with councils across the UK for decades now, rolling out insulation upgrade programmes at a huge scale – more than 1.4 million measures in fact. Here are just a few recent examples:

• In North Tyneside, we’ve improved nearly 200 homes with internal wall insulation and ventilation, helping the council on its journey to net zero by 2030.
• In Walsall, 250 homes are being retrofitted with insulation and ventilation upgrades for healthier, more energy-efficient living.
• And in Macclesfield, we teamed up with Peaks & Plains to deliver more than 1,100 energy efficiency measures to 272 homes, including underfloor and loft insulation.

All delivered through government schemes like the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund – with our Green Funding Solutions team helping local authorities unlock the support that’s out there.

2. Smart meters – the gateway to smarter living

Smart meters are the silent engine behind so much of the smart energy revolution – powering accurate billing, real-time insights and the foundations for future-ready homes where people are truly in charge of their energy.

At E.ON, we’re proud to be industry leaders in smart meter rollout. In fact, in 2024 we installed the highest percentage of smart meters of any major supplier.

Smart meters don’t just make bills simpler, they make energy use more visible, giving customers the tools to track, tweak and save. They’re also essential for unlocking innovations like:

• Time-of-Use tariffs that reward off-peak usage (hello, cheaper spin cycles, and even overnight EV charging!)
• ResidentialFlex – a new system to connect smart meters with home energy solutions, giving customers more control and savings.

Smart meters make homes smarter. And smarter homes make net zero possible.

3. Low carbon heating – out with the boiler, in with the future

Gas boilers are one of the UK’s biggest sources of household emissions – and they’re on borrowed time.

By 2040, more than half of UK homes will need to be heated by heat pumps, according to the Climate Change Committee. It’s ambitious but doable. Especially with air source heat pumps that are 3–4 times more efficient than traditional heating systems.

And retrofitting isn’t just possible – it’s already happening. In fact, we’ve already installed more than 2,000 heat pumps in customers’ homes across the country.

From heat pumps to innovative geothermal technology to district heating, we’re helping to supply next-gen heating technologies to older homes, one upgrade at a time but also across whole communities. But there’s a bigger challenge too: fairness.

Right now, electricity carries more of the social costs – things like taxes and social levies – that go to make up household bills, meaning green heating is less attractive in cost comparisons. As our CEO Chris Norbury puts it, we need to move these costs into general taxation – levelling the playing field and making clean heating the easier and more affordable choice for everyone.

4. Solar power – turning rooftops into power stations

By 2029, solar is expected to become the world’s leading renewable energy source. And the UK, perhaps surprisingly, has massive untapped potential.

We’ve already installed solar panels on more than 16,000 homes nationwide and, through our 15-year strategic energy partnership with Coventry City Council, we’re exploring ways to scale green energy city-wide. We’re working closely with the council to deliver a full package of solutions – including solar panels on schools and public buildings – all designed to decarbonise local communities and put people more in control of their power.

Plus, we’re supporting Energy Sharing Communities, where buildings like schools and shops generate solar power and sell surplus to neighbours – households! – at affordable rates.

From large-scale arrays to single rooftops, solar is changing the way people power their homes. With solar panels and a battery (or an EV), homes can store power, use it later – or even sell it back to the grid.

Elsewhere, we’re also delivering the UK’s largest roof-mounted solar installation at the Port of Liverpool, with 63,000 solar panels being fitted across the site in a partnership with Peel Ports Group. Projects like this not only cut carbon, they also signal a shift in how industry, land use, and energy policy can work together at a local level.

Local energy, local benefits, and a bright future for solar.

5. Batteries – storing power, saving money

Renewable energy works best when it’s flexible. And flexibility depends on storage.

By 2050, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has said the UK’s peak annual electricity demand is likely to at least double, and potentially increase by more than 150%. 

To ensure this higher demand can be met with clean power, we will need to see a significant rise in renewable generation – and a suitable way to store this energy.

That’s where batteries come in – storing clean energy when it’s plentiful and cheap, and using it when demand (and cost) rises.

By combining smart meters, Time-of-Use tariffs and domestic batteries, we can empower households to become active participants in the energy market – using energy smarter and even earning money by exporting it.

We’re not just talking about it. In Coventry, we’re piloting a scheme with the City Council that has installed batteries in homes at no upfront cost – helping customers to cut bills and carbon without the barrier of big investment.

On a larger scale, we’re working with global investment manager Quinbrook to build a 230MW battery storage facility that will help to balance supply and demand on the power grid and support the transition to renewables. It’s a powerful symbol of what the net zero shift looks like in practice: turning the past into a platform for the future.

6. Electric vehicles – cleaner travel, smarter homes

The UK is now Europe’s biggest EV market – with one in five new cars sold fully electric. That’s brilliant progress, but we’re not just riding the wave, we’re building the infrastructure that keeps it moving.

Having installed more than 8,000 EV chargers in homes across the UK with another 2,000 chargers for small businesses, we’ve provided more than 50 million miles of EV charging in 2024 alone.

From thousands of smart home chargers (hooked up to smart EV tariffs) to trialling cutting-edge innovations like EV Hover (a 180-degree swivel charger for homes without driveways), we’re making EV ownership easy, accessible and smart.

And the next frontier? V2X – vehicle-to-everything.

With V2X tech, we’re exploring how your car can do more than drive:

• Power your home (V2H)
• Feed energy back to the grid (V2G)
• Help charge another EV (V2V)

The family hatchback is now a big battery on wheels – one that can power your home, help stabilise the grid and reduce your bills.

The road to net zero starts on your street

Retrofitting isn’t just an energy upgrade – it’s a fairness upgrade. It’s how we make sure every home, not just the newest or fanciest, gets the chance to be part of a cleaner future.

The tools are here. The solutions are proven. The challenge now is scale – and collaboration.

With the right partnerships, policies and local innovation, we can turn isolated success stories into everyday reality – and retrofit our way to a greener, fairer, clean-powered Britain.