Homeowners who generate their own electricity would supply 5 per cent of the nation’s needs in little more than a decade under plans to be announced by the Conservatives today.

The party wants small-scale electricity generation to become as popular as mobile telephones as part of efforts to bring climate change under control. Among the measures they would take would be to allow domestic wind turbines and other renewable technology to be installed without the need to seek planning permission, with the exception of listed buildings.

A few large power plants have been the mainstay of electricity generation in Britain since the 1930s. Oliver Letwin, a member of the Shadow Cabinet, said that the system needed to be replaced with an infrastructure that concentrated on small-scale but widespread generation. By encouraging homeowners to install microgeneration sources the Conservatives hope to modernise the system of energy supply and to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.

Combined heat and power boilers are the favoured method of household generation for the Conservatives. Domestic generators of this type are fuelled typically by natural gas and are 85 per cent efficient, unlike other forms of generation, which are usually only 30-50 per cent efficient. They should be available in Britain in 2009.

Mr Letwin said that by making it easier for householders to install and run microgenerators, at least 5 per cent of the electricity in Britain, the same amount that would be supplied by the proposed Severn Barrage project, could be produced in the home by 2018-22. He said that 30-40 per cent would be possible within 30 years. “We are trying to achieve a revolutionary change in the architecture of generation,” he said.

In a report outlining the proposals, the Tories said: “Our ambition is to revolutionise the electricity sector by enabling every small business, every school, every hospital and every household to generate electricity.”

The grant system for householders would be scrapped and the money used to promote a wider take-up of microgeneration instead. The key to the proposals is the determination of the Conservatives to ensure each householder can agree standard, long-term contracts with power firms to sell the electricity they generate.

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