Andersen launches its cheapest ever EV charger wallbox
The new Andersen Quartz charger costs from £685 – a £310 saving over Andersen's previous cheapest charging unit, the £995 Andersen A3. The price of the new charger puts it up against popular chargers from some of the major energy suppliers including Octopus and E.On Next.
Andersen has become famous for its design-led EV chargers that can be personalised to match their surroundings, and the Quartz is no different. It's available in over 100 colour combinations for the facia and main body of the unit, or customers can also choose from Accoya wood or carbon front facia trim.
The Quartz has been designed and developed in the UK, and is hand-built at Andersen's factory in Bedfordshire. It's made from fully weatherproof cast-aluminium and comes with a seven-year warranty. Installation is taken care of by Andersen's own network of EV-driving installers.
Andersen says that its new Quartz charger is fully compatibility with solar power and can be used with the latest low-cost electricity tariffs from suppliers that mean charging can cost as little as 6.7p per kWh overnight rather than the 27p per kWh that is the current electricity price cap figure.
The new unit can be ordered as a tethered unit with its own cable or as a socketed unit where owners can use their own charging cable. It's compatible with the most common 7kW single-phase domestic charging or 22kW three-phase for faster charging. And, of course, there is an app that lets you schedule charging and monitor your energy usage and cost.
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BBC News
5 days ago
- BBC News
Why zonal electricity pricing for Scotland is not going to happen
Lower electricity bills in Scotland: It seems an attractive option for hard-pressed Scottish householders and had been a possibility as a result of electricity market reforms being considered by the previous and the current UK may not have heard much about it, at least until the announcement that it's not going to than Octopus, a supplier wanting to champion customers, there have been few calling for Scotland to embrace a system of "zonal" pricing, which would have meant balancing demand with abundant supply from Scottish renewable you may have heard a lot more, are complaints that rural Scotland is being industrialised to get that abundant wind power from Scottish hilltops and coastlines to the big customer base south of the border. Those complaints are only likely to get louder, now that Ed Miliband, the UK energy secretary, has decided against zonal pricing, and in favour of other market reforms he's chosen emphasise incentives to build more renewable power capacity - more of the cables, pylons and substations to get high-voltage power to market and to do so more calculation was influenced by the prospect of some power bills going up for those parts of the country where demand outstrips supply, which would mean much of England. That would not have been smart politically. And the benefit of lower prices in areas including Scotland would not have been seen for perhaps another decade, as reform would have taken almost that minister and his Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) was also subject to a lot of lobbying pressure from the power industry to close off the zonal option, clarifying the future of pricing and allowing investors to get on with construction. Without clarity on pricing, financial risk goes up. Margins are already tight, after several years of input price about the future shape of the market has created a hiatus. The big renewables investors, including SSE and Scottish Power, which own and operate the grid north of the Border, have welcomed the announcement and say it lets them get on with their all the response, including those power companies, Scottish Renewables, the industry representative, energy consultancy Cornwall Insight and the Scottish Government's minister Gillian Martin, take a similar line - now that zonal pricing is out the way, don't let up on other necessary market reform. Cornwall Insight describes it as being under "severe strain", saying clarity about zonal pricing is not to be confused with resolution of market problems. Ed MIliband's solutions focus on removing bottlenecks in getting power to market - building more grid connections and installing them faster, with more battery parks to store power until the surge in supply is also looking to yet another consultation on a feature of the energy market that has weighed heavily on investments in Scotland. Grid connection charges are paid by owners of wind turbines for having access to the national are highest in the north of Scotland and go lower as you go south. The logic was to incentivise the industry to build power plants close to population centres and industry, in the days when electricity came from coal and is now more likely to come from the parts of Britain where the wind blows most strongly, including its seas. And they tend to be to the north, so there's a strong case for reorienting the market to remove that incentive to build in the is a further reason why some may have been unsure of grasping lower energy bills for Scots. Zonal pricing, with cheaper electricity in the north, would have had the effect of creating an incentive for heavy industry to head north - imagine the relocation of cement, steel, glass and auto manufacturing to the without zonal pricing, that incentive could mean that newer industries locate close to the source of energy, including hydrogen production and data centres.
The National
6 days ago
- The National
Octopus Energy boss slams UK Government zonal pricing snub
The Energy Security Secretary has allegedly binned plans to introduce zonal pricing, which Octopus Energy has repeatedly claimed could have given Scots some of the cheapest electricity in Europe and boost the economy. The scheme would have split the UK into regions based on local supply and demand, meaning Scotland would likely have benefitted enormously due to an abundance of renewables. The UK Government has said it will not comment on reports it has branded as "speculation". Greg Jackson, CEO of Octopus Energy, has been a prominent campaigner for introducing zonal pricing, having constantly highlighted how windfarms are often paid not to generate energy because they are built where there is insufficient grid. READ MORE: What is the point of Octopus Energy's wasted wind tracker? On the back of the latest reports, he tweeted: 'Britain's broken energy system. Companies built windfarms where there's no grid and you pay them to not generate. 'Soaring costs, locked in for years to come, and more on the way. 'It's not good enough to sigh. Something must change. It's brutal for families and crippling for growth.' Jack Richardson, head of policy at Octopus, accused the UK Government of 'capitulating' to lobbying from major generators. He posted on Twitter/X: 'Taking zonal off the table against the advice of NESO [National Energy System Operator], then doing loads of complicated, costly stuff to try to get the benefits of zonal pricing, shows the government knows zonal is the right thing to do but it is capitulating to all the backstage lobbying.' Octopus Energy has recently launched a "wasted wind" tracker to show the public how much billpayers' money is being spent on turning off windfarms. Ed Miliband has reportedly abandoned plans to introduce zonal pricing (Image: PA) According to the energy provider, constraint costs have hit almost £700 million already this year. Despite claims from opponents that zonal pricing would turn the UK energy market into a postcode lottery, analysis showed earlier this year that households in Scotland will already be paying more for electricity in the next year than those living in London. Consumers in north Wales and Merseyside will pay £120 more than households in London for their electricity over the coming year, Cornwall Insight forecasts, while those in the north of Scotland will pay £96 more than those in the capital. The differentials stem from variation in the charges levied on bills to fund the upkeep of Britain's 14 regional electricity distribution networks, which are regulated by Ofgem. Zonal pricing could have cut the cost of renewing and updating the country's electricity grid by billions. READ MORE: Insider lifts lid on workings of Corbyn-Sultana project in Scotland A report by FTI Consulting predicted overall savings of £52 billion for consumers over 20 years, while another, which was commissioned by Octopus, found the UK would need to spend £27bn less on major grid upgrades in the future. Former Alba MSP Neale Hanvey said: 'Under the 'broad shoulders of the UK', Scotland is being robbed of our vast energy wealth while handing exorbitant profits to the big energy companies. 'Our people are paying up to three times as much for energy as they should as Ed Miliband abandons 'zonal pricing' plans.' Former MP Angus MacNeil accused Labour of 'short-term thinking' and called for Scotland to be in control of its own energy policy. He said: 'Scotland is a net exporter of electricity, yet energy bills in Scotland are higher than anywhere else in the UK. 'Zonal pricing was a modest, common-sense reform that would have recognised Scotland's role in powering the UK and brought long-overdue fairness to our bills. 'By caving to pressure from the energy giants and abandoning a policy that would have incentivised clean energy use in the right places, Labour are undermining their own climate agenda. It is short-term thinking at its worst. 'Scotland deserves better. We deserve control over our own energy policy, one that puts the needs of our communities first, not last. It is clear the only way we can do that is by becoming an independent country.' When asked for comment, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said it does not comment on 'speculation'.
The National
08-07-2025
- The National
What is the point of Octopus Energy's wasted wind tracker?
If you go to the Octopus website, you will see a tracker which shows that so far in 2025 Britain has wasted almost £700 million switching off wind turbines and paying gas plants to switch on. If you dive further into the tracker, you can see how much each day is being spent on wasted wind. On Tuesday, it was well over £1.1m. This is the equivalent of around 8411 MWh, which Octopus claims is enough to power Birmingham for one day. Cue mind-blown emoji. What's going on here and why has Octopus launched this tracker? We spoke to the company's head of policy Jack Richardson to find out more. Why has Octopus launched a wasted wind tracker? Octopus Energy has been pushing for reform of the UK energy system for years and it is well-known as being a leading campaigner for zonal pricing. Zonal pricing would split the UK into price regions based on local supply and demand. Energy consumers would pay less for electricity if they are based close to electricity projects but more if they are based further away, meaning Scotland – with its abundance of renewables – could benefit enormously. READ MORE: Ex-Irish taoiseach says he's 'never been so glad' Ireland out of Nato But right now the UK has one national energy price despite the cost of producing electricity differing throughout the day across the country. If an offshore wind farm in Scotland produces more electricity than the network can handle it is paid to turn off, or be "constrained", and a gas-fired power plant in the south of England is paid to turn on. It is this baffling point that Octopus is trying to drive home with its new tracker – your money is going down the drain because the UK energy market isn't fit for purpose anymore. Richardson said: 'The data is on our side, as you can see with wasted wind we've gone from constraints of £170 million in 2010 to over £1.5 billion for wind last year. 'We're nearly at £700m already this year and Niso [Energy] said we're on track for up to £8bn by 2030. 'So we know that zonal fixes that, that's why we're publishing the data to hold the other side's feet to the fire because they haven't actually come up with any alternative solutions yet, they've just said zonal is the wrong idea.' Niche subject, big impact Richardson admits that while Octopus has been shouting about how much money is being wasted on constraining wind farms for some time, it is often hard for such a niche topic to secure bandwith in a news agenda of global conflict and economic struggles. But cut through it must as it is having a huge impact on people's finances and Richardson hopes this tracker will drive home that point. (Image: Octopus Energy) 'The message is if we stick with the current system that's no longer fit for purpose and was designed for an age of big coal plants, big nuclear and gas plants, in the middle of the country, then we will get big bill rises the public have to pay,' he said. READ MORE: Forecaster sets out bleak picture for economy under Labour's watch He went on: 'This is a debate about electricity markets so it's very niche and most people will ignore it, so I guess it's a way to show that yes, it's complicated, but it's having a big impact on people's lives, it's taking money out of people's pockets completely unnecessarily. 'We still go into some government departments, and they still don't quite know what's going on and when we tell them how wasteful the system is getting, they get pretty shocked.' Zonal more efficient than grid investment Last week it was announced energy bills are set to rise despite billions of pounds of investment to upgrade grid infrastructure. Britain's energy watchdog Ofgem has given the go-ahead to an initial £24 billion of investment to upgrade UK energy infrastructure, but revealed the move will push up network charges on household bills by more than £100. Richardson explained how zonal pricing could save a huge chunk of money in new infrastructure and give Scotland a much better deal. 'Zonal pricing would mean you need to build less grid,' he said. 'We had a report out finding that over 20 years you can spend up to £27bn less on the grid. 'In Scotland, the game at the moment is you've built all this very cheap wind energy and now we're going to build an extraordinary amount of grid to bring it all south, and in the meantime, we're going to switch off a bunch of wind farms. 'The plan at the moment is build a flabby grid to bring down all the power from Scotland rather than just cut bills everywhere and let Scotland have the cheap energy it's built.' Preventing over tweaking Octopus says a decision on whether the UK is going to bring in zonal pricing or simply try to reform national pricing is imminent. But Richardson believes no amount of tweaking will ever be enough to fix the broken system compared to adopting zonal. 'If you keep the national price and whole aim of the game is to just tweak the outcomes rather than prevent bad outcomes in the first place then that's always going to be inherently more inefficient,' he said.
