National Grid ESO and Octopus Energy launch winter flexibility trial

The almost two-month trial running until the end of March will assess the role households can play during periods of high demand.

The ‘domestic reserve scarcity’ trial with participants from among Octopus Energy’s smart meter customers will incentivise them to reduce their power consumption below their usual levels for pre-defined two-hour windows across several key periods during this winter, and which should enable them to save money on their electricity bills.

These are the morning and evening peaks, i.e. 09h00-11h00 and 16h30-18h30, as well as the midnight-02h00 period.

The goal is for National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) to find out if moving home energy demand out of peak times can support balancing the power grid and reduce costs, particularly at this time of the year when power demand is higher for heating and lighting.

“Encouraging households to engage in exciting climate-friendly energy opportunities like this trial will be crucial in our transition to net zero,” says Isabelle Haigh, Head of National Control at National Grid ESO.

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“This trial will provide valuable insight into how suppliers may be able to utilise domestic flexibility to help reduce stress on the system during high demand, lower balancing costs and deliver consumer benefits.”

The trial will explore forecasting and the repeatability of customer behaviour to build on the learnings from the earlier Crowdflex study, which focussed on individual standalone events. In that case household participation in domestic energy flexibility initiatives was indicated to help reduce energy demand during peak periods by up to 23%.

The trial is intended to help inform the ESO’s plans to run a zero carbon grid for certain periods by 2025 and a fully decarbonised grid by 2035 and also should provide data that can feed into energy forecasting processes.

James Eddison, CTO and co-founder of Octopus Energy Group, comments that the findings of previous home energy trials and the demand for smart tariffs show that homes can play a key role in improving grid stability.

“By joining forces with ESO, we’re now taking this research to the next level, inviting 1.4 million customers to take part in a trial that will allow them to potentially benefit from cheaper, greener power and help build the energy system of the future. It’s a tremendous opportunity to unlock flexibility at an unprecedented scale.”