Energy suppliers, Octopus Energy and E.ON, are aiming to fill the gap left by the recently closed Feed-in Tariff (FiT), by offering their own tariffs that financially reward homeowners generating energy with solar panels.
Up until its closure on the 31 March 2019, the FiT was a government scheme that paid eligible homeowners and businesses for the energy being generated by their renewable technology.
With the Smart Export Guarantee still being considered as a replacement for the FiT, Octopus Energy and E.ON have announced tariffs that will reward eligible customers for any energy they export to the National Grid.
Outgoing Octopus
Octopus Energy are planning to “replace and improve” government schemes, such as the Feed-in Tariff, with the ‘Outgoing Octopus’ tariff. The Outgoing Octopus tariff be available in 2 different forms:
- Outgoing Octopus Agile – customers will receive payments at a variable rate based on half-hourly wholesale market prices.
- Outgoing Octopus Fixed – customers will be paid a fixed rate of 5.5p for every kWh (kilowatt-hour) exported to the grid.
Octopus Energy CEO, Greg Jackson, said: “Outgoing Octopus is designed to make it easy for households to choose to go green – by paying households to adopt solar, we bring locally generated energy to more people and help the UK adopt a cleaner, cheaper energy system.
“At Octopus Energy, we strongly believe in using smart technology to make energy work for our customers, and we’re delighted to be the first movers into a promising new mark.”
E.ON Solar Reward
While Octopus Energy are looking to replace government schemes, E.ON are aiming to “bridge the gap” between the closure of the Feed-in Tariff and the next government scheme (possibly the Smart Export Guarantee).
The first 500 customers to have solar panels installed by E.ON will receive 5.24p per kWh for exported energy over the course of 12 months.
Michael Lewis, Chief Executive at E.ON UK, said: “We want to continue encouraging and giving confidence to homeowners across Britain looking to invest in solar energy.
“We know how important solar is for our future which is why we’re leading the industry in rewarding our customers for doing their part to help.”
