Households in Great Britain will have their energy bills capped at 2,500 British pounds per year from October 2022 onwards, due to the measures introduced by the UK government in September of 2022. This will result in savings of around 1,050 for the average household, compared with the previous price cap, which was set to increase to 3,459 per year.

The UK inflation rate was 3.4 percent in May 2025, down from 3.5 percent in the previous month, and the fastest rate of inflation since February 2024. Between September 2022 and March 2023, the UK experienced seven months of double-digit inflation, which peaked at 11.1 percent in October 2022. Due to this long period of high inflation, UK consumer prices have increased by over 20 percent in the last three years. As of the most recent month, prices were rising fastest in the communications sector, at 6.1 percent, but were falling in both the furniture and transport sectors, at -0.3 percent and -0.6 percent respectively.
The Cost of Living Crisis High inflation is one of the main factors behind the ongoing Cost of Living Crisis in the UK, which, despite subsiding somewhat in 2024, is still impacting households going into 2025. In December 2024, for example, 56 percent of UK households reported their cost of living was increasing compared with the previous month, up from 45 percent in July, but far lower than at the height of the crisis in 2022. After global energy prices spiraled that year, the UK's energy price cap increased substantially. The cap, which limits what suppliers can charge consumers, reached 3,549 British pounds per year in October 2022, compared with 1,277 pounds a year earlier. Along with soaring food costs, high-energy bills have hit UK households hard, especially lower income ones that spend more of their earnings on housing costs. As a result of these factors, UK households experienced their biggest fall in living standards in decades in 2022/23. Global inflation crisis causes rapid surge in prices The UK's high inflation, and cost of living crisis in 2022 had its origins in the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the initial waves of the virus, global supply chains struggled to meet the renewed demand for goods and services. Food and energy prices, which were already high, increased further in 2022. Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 brought an end to the era of cheap gas flowing to European markets from Russia. The war also disrupted global food markets, as both Russia and Ukraine are major exporters of cereal crops. As a result of these factors, inflation surged across Europe and in other parts of the world, but typically declined in 2023, and approached more usual levels by 2024.

The average gas price in Great Britain in May 2025 was 82.59 British pence per therm. This was seven pence higher than the same month the year prior and follows a trend of increasing gas prices. Energy prices in the UK Energy prices in the UK have been exceptionally volatile throughout the 2020s. Multiple factors, such as a lack of gas storage availability and the large share of gas in heating, have exacerbated the supply issue in the UK that followed the Russia-Ukraine war. This has also led to many smaller suppliers announcing bankruptcy, while an upped price cap threatened the energy security of numerous households. The United Kingdom has some of the highest household electricity prices worldwide. How is gas used in the UK? According to a 2023 survey conducted by the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, 58 percent of respondents used gas as a heating method during the winter months. On average, household expenditure on energy from gas in the UK stood at some 24.9 billion British pounds in 2023, double the amount spent just two years prior.

The study on current energy policy issues was conducted by the Kantar opinion research institute on behalf of the Press and Information Office of the German Federal Government. During the survey period from 19.10.2022 to 25.10.2022, the German-speaking population aged 14 and over was surveyed in telephone interviews (CATI) on the following topics: attitudes toward energy policy with a focus on energy saving, the burden of high energy prices, the need for information on energy policy, and the assessment of the gas price cap. Respondents were selected by a multi-stage random sample in a multi-topic survey (Emnid-bus) including landline and mobile phone numbers (dual-frame sample).

The New Energy Foundation (NEF) is holding the second public call for proposals for grant for Accelerating the Introduction of Hydropower in FY 2022 (the project that conducts the necessary investigation, design, etc. for evaluating the feasibility of hydropower generation, among the support projects in the initial stage of hydropower generation business (the support projects for initial investigations, etc.)) as shown below.

1. Subsidised Project Project: Hydropower plants to be newly built or replaced Power generation output expected to be 20 kW or more and less than 30,000 kW

   (1) Hydropower Generation Utility Evaluation Project Expenses required for projects to conduct surveys and designs necessary for feasibility evaluation of hydropower generation at the initial stage of the project by private businesses and local governments (In principle, only outsourcing and lease fees are required.) We will also subsidize part of the expenses for the construction of work paths necessary for surveys over 100 m in total length.

○ Subsidised operators Private operators in ・ who plan to produce small and medium hydropower themselves (corporations and sole proprietors with blue tax returns) ・ Local Government

○ Subsidy rate Up to 1/2 However, grant's upper limit on the sum of labour and research costs per 1 plant shall in principle be 20 million JPY/year if the basic design is included in the subsidised cost, and 10 million JPY/year otherwise. Workway maintenance expenses are limited to 150,000 JPY/10 m (tax not included) multiplied by the distance (10 m rounded down) and the subsidy rate. However, the maximum limit is 10 million JPY.

(2) Hydropower Project Evaluation and Public Offering by Local Governments Of the expenses required for local governments to conduct surveys, designs, etc. of promising hydropower sites in the region and to solicit public offers of power generation companies to develop such sites or operate PFI projects based on the concession method, the Government will subsidize the expenses for preparing materials for public offering and the expenses for the construction of workways necessary for surveys with a total length of 100 m or more.

○ Subsidised operators Local government that surveys potential sites for small and medium hydropower in the region and invites applicants to generate electricity

○ Subsidy rate A flat rate (10/10) for subsidised costs However, grant will limit its research costs (including materials for the public offer) per 1 plant to 20 million JPY/year. Also, path maintenance will be subsidized for 2 years only, up to 150,000 JPY/10 m (not including sales tax) multiplied by the distance (rounded down to the nearest 10 m) and the subsidy rate. However, the maximum amount per 1 Power Station shall be 20 million JPY.

1. Offer Period Wednesday, October 26, 2022 to Monday, November 28, 2022

Please We will try to make the grant decision as early as possible so that the duration of the subsidy can be as long as possible. Applicants are encouraged to consult with us in advance as soon as possible.

1. budget for grants Amount budget for grants Amount Offered 2022: 700 million Portions of budget for grants, JPY

   1. Application Requirements grant Grant Application Form and all required attachments must be submitted electronically (J Grants) (this system). If there are unavoidable circumstances, we accept applications by e-mail. Please refer to the Public Offering Guidelines for details. Please download the application guidelines and forms from "Details" below. It can also be downloaded from the NEF Hydropower Subsidy Website at the following URL:

2. Public Offering Seminars Public Offering Seminars will be held at the following times and locations: (Online)

   Public Offering 2nd 1 Wednesday, November 2, 2022 13:30~15:00Google Meet 3rd 2 Thursday, November 10, 2022 13:30~15:00 MS Teams 3rd 3 Wednesday, November 16, 2022 13:30~15:00Google Meet

★ For more information and application, please visit the NEF Hydropower Subsidy Program website below.

■ Reference URL For more information, please refer to NEF Hydropower Subsidy Program Web Page https://suiryokuhojo.nef.or.jp

■ Contact Information Hydropower Promotion Department, New Energy Foundation, Tokyo 3- 13 Higashi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, 2, Immobul Kojima 2 F Phone: 03-6810-0371 E-mail: phpd1@nef.or.jp

Keywords: Hydropower Renewable Energy