Delta-EE, the specialist new energy research and consulting company, released their State of New Energy Market 2021 report that looks at the shift towards energy as a service across industry sectors.

Delta-EE, the specialist new energy research and consulting company, released their State of New Energy Market 2021 report that looks at the shift towards energy as a service across industry sectors. The report shows that despite COVID-19, the new energy market in Europe is progressing faster than expected with a 53% increase in customer spend in 2020, compared to 46% in 2019. With more new energy services becoming available over the next five years, Delta-EE expects a slower but steady customer spend growth of 32% annually, with eMobility seeing the fastest growth rate.

eMobility saw a remarkable triple digit year-on-year growth with the UK, Germany, France and Italy having the biggest growth in customer spend, according to the report. Delta-EE estimates 84 million electric vehicles (EVs) to be on European roads by 2030 and reach a €146bn annual market revenue in 2025. Such intense uptake of EVs is a result of cheaper EV propositions becoming available and customers keen to choose environmentally beneficial solutions over diesel cars. This shift is supported by the local policies, like citywide low emissions zones and subsidies, like Next Generation EU fund. Here, Delta-EE sees a virtuous cycle where an increased demand for EVs pushes businesses to think of innovative, customer centred eMobility offerings, in turn making EVs an even more popular consumer choice.

"Charging your electric vehicle inevitably increases your electricity bill and we see that as a motivating factor for the uptake of other new energy propositions, such as smart home management and charging propositions. From tech companies to utilities, eMobility involves businesses across the whole supply chain and we expect such market growth to speed up the expansion of other sectors", notes Alix Weil, the New Energy Business Model Service Manager in Delta-EE.

The report also highlights increasing opportunities in the heat sector, which saw a 9% year-on-year growth, with France and Germany leading the market. Two key trends revealed are a notable uptake of heat pumps as well as connectivity becoming a "must-have" in newbuild houses across Europe. Delta-EE expects the UK market to see the most growth in the next five years, particularly due to the growing customer appetite for connectivity, supported by the increasing number of service providers pushing such solutions to the market. With supportive policies like the UK Heat and Building Strategy on the way, and potential subsidies these will further drive market progress.

"The business models that will have a competitive advantage moving forward are those that build close relationships with their customer. That means developing a no-brainer proposition that will make new energy solutions more attractive than alternatives - we see good examples of that in subscription services and bundles.

"As part of our research, we conducted a survey in Europe that showed more than 70% of residential customers find subscription packages appealing and we expect up to 10% of heating appliance sales to be on "as a service" contracts by 2030", adds Weil.