Octopus Energy and National Grid have introduced a new process to speed up the installation of heat pumps and other low carbon technologies, such as domestic batteries and electric vehicle chargers.

The additional power required by these clean tech devices can mean that the fuse on the incoming electricity supply would need to be upgraded by the local distribution network operator, slowing installation down, but the new agreement allows Octopus Energy engineers to upgrade the fuse themselves at the same time as they are installing heat pumps, EV chargers and solar panels. This removes a step in the process that could add up to ten weeks to the installation.

National Grid has also assessed the heat pumps installed by Octopus Energy and pre-approved them for connection across its network – potentially saving up to five weeks where checks would be made to ensure the local electricity grid could accommodate the extra power needed to run the heat pump.

Cordi O’Hara, president of National Grid Electricity Distribution, said that “over the last five years we’ve seen the number of electric vehicle chargers installed on our network increase by eight times, and the number of heat pumps triple. These new changes to the fuse upgrade process are part of our commitment to make it even easier for customers to connect low carbon technologies.”

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