Commissioned by Natuur & Milieu, CE Delft investigated the extent to which limitations on electricity connections hinder efforts to make homes more sustainable. The study also examined how smart choices in decarbonising heat supply in the built environment can reduce pressure on the electricity grid and limit the need for grid investment.
Home decarbonisation can continue This study shows that efforts to decarbonise heat supply in homes can continue effectively even without upgrading electricity connections. Heat pumps can generally be installed using a single-phase connection (a relatively small-capacity connection that is standard in many existing homes). When several electrical applications are used together, such as a heat pump and an electric vehicle charging point, smart control becomes important to prevent the connection’s capacity from being exceeded. The transition to low-carbon heating can therefore continue even if not every household electricity connection can be upgraded. Electrification does, however, always increase the load on the electricity grid. We therefore investigated two solutions for reducing combined peak demand and the need for grid investment. The conclusions are: