This report for climate charity Possible explores the potential for new community onshore wind projects to unlock part of the puzzle of making clean, local heat cheaper and therefore more attractive to roll out, ideally at scale.
Wind-powered heat: Powering clean heat with clean energy to cut costs and emissions models the match between wind power generation and heating demand, finding that wind is a good match for the electricity needed for clean heat – unsurprisingly, as winter is windier than summer. Its key findings include:
- Wind power and heat pumps complement each other, with wind being more prolific and heat being in greater demand during the winter.
- Heating homes with locally generated renewable electricity could reduce annual energy bills by nearly a third while cutting emissions by 90%.
- With 3,700 of the most deprived neighbourhoods in England within 1km of an area with good onshore wind resources, the Wind+Heat model has the potential to help ‘level up’ the UK, alleviating fuel poverty and enabling a just transition to net zero.
- Systemic changes are required to realise this potential, particularly around the calculation of electricity bills, onshore wind planning, and community support, financing and innovation.
Download the report here.