Nearly four fifths of businesses (77 per cent) in the UK and Ireland expect to meet at least a quarter of their electricity through onsite generation by 2025, according to a new survey by Centrica.
More than a quarter have already invested in onsite generation and another third (32 per cent) plan to do so in future.
Centrica surveyed more than a thousand businesses from across the UK, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Canada and the US in the healthcare, education, property, manufacturing and retail sectors. All had more than 100 employees and were using, trialling or considering “advanced energy solutions”.
Of the 203 located in the UK and Ireland, 26 per cent had installed solar panels, whilst 27 per cent had invested in combined heat and power. Nearly half (44 per cent) said they had identified the opportunity to earn money by providing flexibility to the power grid.
The survey also found although three in ten (29 per cent) claimed to have a formalised energy strategy in place, far fewer had specific targets or budgets with which to meet them.
For example, whilst more than half of respondents (52 per cent) said it was very important to have back-up in case of an outage, less than a fifth (18 per cent) per cent said they had relevant targets. A similar proportion (49 per cent) said it was very important to use sustainable energy to support their brand image, but again only 16 per cent had targets.
“It’s a great sign that businesses in the UK and Ireland are really forward thinking when it comes to their energy,” said Centrica Business Solutions director for the UK and Ireland, Alan Barlow.
“Taking control of their energy use is clearly important to them, and companies think they’ll be on the road to achieve this in a short space of time.”
“This is where an energy strategy comes into play. Many of the global challenges facing businesses – emissions targets, risk reduction and increased onsite generation – can be addressed through better energy management.
“But getting an energy strategy right is key to unlocking these benefits and achieving that ambitious 2025 prediction.”