Large-scale study of domestic energy flexibility

A consortium of energy companies has launched a large-scale energy flexibility study to explore its potential as more renewable energy is fed in to the grid.

Crowdflex has over 25,000 households taking part and will examine how households could use low carbon technologies, like electric vehicles (EV) and heat pumps, in a cost-effective transition to net zero. It brings together National Grid ESO, Octopus Energy, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, and vehicle charge manufacturer Ohme.

Participating households on Octopus Energy’s smart tariffs will be sent price alerts highlighting opportunities to shift their demand to take advantage of lower energy costs. How they respond to the changing price signals is being examined to develop an understanding of how flexibility can be used to manage the energy system in a smart and low-carbon way.

The 25,000 homes taking part represent the full breadth of household types and market segments in the UK. This will help gather data which reflect the opportunities created in the net zero transition for homes with high to low energy efficiency ratings, in rural and coastal locations, and across Scotland and England’s cities.

CrowdFlex will help understand local and national energy system balancing and opportunities for households to play an active role in the shift to net zero. The study will highlight ways in which domestic demand side response can reduce energy bills, carbon footprints, and create new revenue streams for households.

“Our customers are some of the most engaged and climate-conscious in the country,” said James Eddison, CTO and co-founder of Octopus Energy Group. “Many of them are already using smart energy technologies to move their energy usage when energy is cheaper and greener and the grid is less stressed.

“By scaling up our previous demand-side-response trials and joining forces with other key players in energy, we will for the first time be able to find out how big the role is that our homes can play in providing grid flexibility. This research project will help us demonstrate how we can use energy storage in our homes and flexible energy demand to exploit renewable energy and bring about the clean, green grid of the future, globally.”

Carolina Tortora, head of innovation strategy and digital transformation at National Grid ESO, said: “Technologies like electric cars and heat pumps have a key role in helping Britain to reach net zero. But there’s a lot for us to learn about how consumer behaviour can shape that journey. This project will give us some really exciting insight into how smart tariffs and technologies can influence the way people consume electricity and help us balance the grid. As greater volumes of less controllable renewable power joins the system, electricity consumers are only going to become more important in that balancing act.”

The Climate Change Committee (CCC) forecast that as the UK transitions to net zero demand on electricity networks could treble by 2050. New ways of balancing the grid will be critical for a cost-effective transition to net zero and the increased flexibility of existing assets can help spread out the peaks and troughs of energy demand, and delay, and in certain circumstances avoid, traditional network reinforcement.