New homes to be built off gas grid from 2025 under Government plans

All new homes could be built off the gas grid by 2025 under new plans being considered by the Government to remove fossil fuels from the heating sector.

The installation of gas boilers in existing homes is likely to be phased out by the ‘mid-2030s’, according to the new energy white paper.

The Government has also entered formal talks with energy company EDF to develop the £20bn Sizewell C nuclear power station, which could provide 7 per cent of the UK’s electricity.  The RSPB said the move could have 'devastating consequences' for nature.

The white paper provides a starting point for how the UK’s energy sector, which is currently 80 per cent fossil fuels, will be fully decarbonised by 2050, and “overwhelmingly” by the 2030s.

The plans for all newly installed heating systems to be “low-carbon” by the mid 2030s leave open the possibility for hydrogen-ready boilers to be installed.

But the white paper indicates that electricity, particularly heat pump technology, is likely to lead the way in decarbonising home heating in the next 30 years.

“This paves the way for what a vision of a low carbon house looks like,” said Jonathan Marshall, head of analysis at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit.

The transition will mean electricity demand could double in the next 30 years, requiring the increased use of smart devices to regulate when power is used.

Home electric vehicle chargepoints will have to operate smart as standard under expected new legislation next year, meaning they will automatically charge when electricity is more available, and cheaper.

The Government is also looking at introducing new legislation that would require electric vehicle chargepoints in all new homes and in non-residential buildings.

The new reliance on smart devices could leave the power systems and consumers’ personal data vulnerable to cyber attack, and the Government has promised to take action to ban unsafe goods from the market.

Overall, the plan is expected to reduce the UK’s emissions by 230 million metric tonnes of CO2 by 2032 – equivalent to taking 7.5 million petrol cars off the road.

Phasing out fossil fuels in home heating is one of the trickiest parts of the UK’s route to net zero emissions by 2050. Around 85 per cent of homes in the UK are on the gas grid, and building heating and cooking accounts for some 19 per cent of the country’s emissions.

Business and Energy Secretary Alok Sharma said the Government would “place affordability and fairness at the heart of our reforms”, but consumer groups have said more information will be needed for people to make informed decisions in the coming years.

The plans include trials of an "opt-out switching" system, which would sign consumers up to the best tariff automatically when their old contract ends.

Heat pumps are expected to cost between £8,000-£17,000. Meanwhile hydrogen-ready boilers cost around £100 more than an ordinary boiler, with the conversion work on a hydrogen system likely to cost another £150.

But the scale of the Government’s ambition for heat pumps is much bigger than for hydrogen. While it has set a target for 600,000 heat pumps being installed annually by 2028, its first hydrogen town is expected to provide heating for only tens of thousands by 2030.