Flow Energy launch new low-carbon boilers

The UK-based company, Flow Energy has set to launch a new boiler that generates electricity as well as heat.

UK-based Flow Energy launch new low carbon boiler with the plan to restore 15,000 inefficient boilers with sustainably developed models on an annual basis.

According to Chief Executive Flow Energy Tony Stiff said: "This application could be a game-changer. There are 220 million boilers in the UK, Europe, and the US - it's a huge market. We think that we have an opportunity to become the de facto heating system of choice... a chance of becoming the Google of the energy industry".

Introducing 66,000 customers to Flow Energy when it was first established and seeking support from its boiler technology, Stiff is confident that Flow has the technology to support the initiative.

The micro-combined heat and power (CHP) system effectively works like a refrigerator in reverse. It uses gas to heat a high-pressure liquid coolant sealed inside the system, with the vapour created as a result moving through a dynamo known as a 'scroll'.

The ‘scroll’ component, commonly used in hybrid cars, spins to generate electricity, controlling energy that would otherwise be lost. The vapour then moves through a heat exchanger to heat water for the home before returning to the boiler as the water is pumped around.

Stiff says the system uses gas so efficiently that despite using more fuel than a traditional boiler it can reduce a home's emissions by 20 per cent compared to grid electricity.

He continues: "The product is low carbon - it's not green, because it's not a renewable technology, but what it does is use gas more efficiently. We see this as a transition technology. We all want to move towards a renewable world, but in reality it's not there yet. So we've got gas, let's use it more efficiently”.

With this new Band A boiler, homeowners are promised to save up to £80 a month on energy bills. The technology appeals to feed-in tariff payments for the power generation used in their homes and approximately10 per cent of electricity being exported to the grid.

Stiff said: "If you put out a million units that would be a sizeable, dirty power station that you would not need on the grid”.

The boiler only generates electricity when the heating is on and has no ability to store electricity. But Stiff says households use most power when the heating is on, primarily in the evenings when dinner is in the oven, clothes are being washed, and the TV is on.

The US is an additional key future market where the energy usage is almost double than in the UK.

Flow has partnered with utility giant NRG Energy to test the boilers.

Stiff is keen to emphasise the benefits the company is bringing to the UK. He said: "All an energy company does is buy energy on the market and shift it to customers through wires they don't own. They're billing companies - they add no value. What we're trying to do is add value [and] ... try to open this to as many people as we can".

Flow Energy hope the boiler cost will drop by £1,675 during this year.