The National Trust and npower have announced a groundbreaking multi-million pound partnership, developed to encourage significant investment in microgeneration of renewable energy, stimulate innovation in carbon saving measures and enable consumers to green their own homes.
Among a range of measures, the Trust and npower unveiled are National Trust Green Energy – a no-premium, green energy product for consumers featuring a Green Energy Fund to support investment in micro- and small-scale renewable energy at National Trust properties – and incentives (totalling over £2000) to help consumers save energy and install renewable energy in their own homes.
They also unveiled National Trust low carbon villages – a pioneering initiative to help local communities living in National Trust villages develop and share practical solutions to reduce the carbon footprint of their homes and community
Fiona Reynolds, the National Trust’s Director-General commented: “The Trust is committed to helping make low carbon living the easy choice for our supporters. There is enormous interest among the public towards greening their own homes, but people struggle with the hassle and expense this might involve. Teaming up with npower to create National Trust Green Energy, we are helping consumers choose practical solutions for their own homes, whilst also supporting investment in new renewable energy generation at Trust properties. By joining in with the Trust, we hope everyone can be part of the solution to tackling climate change”.
Kevin Miles, Managing Director of npower residential, said: “Together, the National Trust and npower can pioneer new solutions to help the UK become a low carbon society. The National Trust is Europe’s largest conservation organisation and npower leads on green energy in the UK – having launched Britain’s first major offshore wind farm in 2003. This is the start of an exciting partnership that will actively seek new ways to provide people’s homes and communities with energy services that encourage the minimum use of carbon”.
At the heart of this partnership announcement is a green energy offer for consumers.
Based on a renewable electricity tariff, sourced 100% from npower’s increasing renewable power developments, National Trust Green Energy costs no more than traditional npower electricity and is available to all domestic energy consumers on the British mainland.
The Trust’s sites and offices have also switched their electricity supply to a renewables tariff, sourced from the same npower sites as NT Green Energy. npower experts will be working alongside Trust staff and volunteers to help the Trust reduce the carbon component of its environmental footprint.
The Trust has started a major programme of work to significantly reduce energy use at all its sites, from mansions to domestic cottages, and install renewable energy where possible. npower will help on a wide range of measures from effective metering and green refurbishment of buildings to replacing fossil fuels in heating systems with renewables.