Member Article

Time to deliver on Green promises, says AceOn

Leading energy pioneer AceOn today welcomed Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s commitment to driving forward measures to tackle climate change – but said his Budget could have gone further.

The company – a leading national innovator in battery and energy storage technology – said it was deeply disappointed Mr Sunak had failed to take the opportunity to scrap VAT on zero and low carbon products.

AceOn Energy managing director Richard Partington said the Government could afford no delays in tackling the climate emergency.

“The COP26 climate change conference in a few days’ time will make it absolutely clear that time has run out for more talk from Governments all over the world – and that action is now desperately needed.

“There are many green measures in this speech which we welcome, such as the Net Zero strategy to invest £30billion in green industries, but the fact that there is no promise to bring in a zero VAT rating for zero and low carbon products is deeply disappointing.

“We used to be told that the Government could not act freely on VAT because it was tied in with EU regulations. But that is not the case now so we wonder why this simple change which could do so much to help our fight against climate change has not been introduced.

“It is beyond belief that energy storage batteries can currently carry 20 per cent VAT while domestic coal carries just five per cent, or that the Government can give nearly £12billion in annual tax breaks to fossil fuel producers while providing only £8billion to drive uptake of renewable energy.

“The work we are doing at AceOn around sustainable energy storage, next-generation battery technology, second use for batteries and helping train and upskill a new generation of installers can make a huge difference to this country meeting its environmental targets and responsibilities.

“But we have to be given a level playing on which to compete and deliver the change which is now urgently needed if we are going to avoid an environmental catastrophe.”

Telford-based AceOn has over 30 years’ experience in the design and manufacture of custom-built battery packs and the distribution of industrial and consumer batteries to the worldwide market. The energy division provides a training, service and distribution centre to offer a full turnkey solution for residential and commercial battery energy storage systems.

The group has built a reputation as being specialists in solar and battery technology, particularly the development of bespoke, custom-built battery packs.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lorna Mccann .