Significant increase in Renewable Energy installations in the UK
Renewable energy specialist MCS (Microgeneration Certification Scheme) has recorded a 65% increase in renewable installations in 2022. Throughout 2022 there were 163,341 MCS-certified installations, more than 80% of which were electricity-generating technologies, mainly solar PV.
The latest figures mark the highest annual deployment since 2015 when just over 200,000 installations were registered.
Uptake in Heat Pumps
Data shows that heat pump installations have significantly risen in 2022 with more than 30,000 installations registered between air source and ground/water source technologies.
March 2022 saw the largest spike in heat pump installations of any month in scheme history, aligning with the closure of the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive scheme. Heat pumps are the second most popular technology type behind solar PV and accounted for 19% of total installations last year.
Heat pump uptake remained high following the launch of the Government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS), which launched in May 2022 to encourage households across England and Wales to access a £7,500 grant to replace their boiler with a more environmentally-friendly heating system.
During 2022, almost 9,000 BUS vouchers were issued with a value of nearly £45m.
Battery Storage and Solar Growth
There was substantial growth in solar PV installations in 2022, more than double those seen in 2021 and even more in 2023. With 130,596 solar PV installations throughout the year 2022, there was an overall increase of 114% when compared with the number of installations in the previous year.
Battery storage is a newcomer in the registered installations for 2022, with the first MCS-certified battery storage installation being registered in April 2022. Since then, battery storage has seen steady growth, finishing the year with 50 certified contractors and 269 installations – this was up from only two contractors registered in 2021.
In total, 780 new contractors became MCS certified in 2022 which is more than double the net increase from 2020 to 2021. This makes 2022 the highest annual increase of certified contractors in more than a decade. Of these new contractors, 67% are certified for electricity generating technologies, evidencing further the increasing appetite for solar PV in UK homes.
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