Local flexibility can help the UK reduce peak energy demand by 23% – study

January 12, 2022 Editor

Active participation of UK households in domestic energy flexibility initiatives can help reduce energy demand during peak periods by up to 23%, which – in turn – can help the reliable integration of renewables to the grid and the achievement of net-zero emissions in a cost-effective manner.

This is according to a £460,000 ($624 698) pilot project conducted by grid operators Scottish and Southern Electricity Company (SSEN), National Grid ESO and Octopus Energy in partnership with demand response company Ohme.

The Crowdflex study, which included some 25,000 households changing consumption patterns according to various demand response energy tariff signals and pricing, found that smart and low-carbon technologies and local energy flexibility mechanisms can help reduce peak demand by up to 23%.

National Grid ESO’s Future Energy Scenarios states that the UK’s electricity demand will approximately double thereby presenting challenging utility’s efforts to leverage renewable energy as baseload power and the elimination of conventional energy resources such as coal and natural gas.

However, Crowdflex has found that using distributed energy resources such as electric vehicles (EVs) and energy flexibility and smart grid mechanisms including active network management, time of use tariffs and network monitoring can help simplify the integration of renewables with grid networks whilst ensuring reliability and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

Crowdflex used Octopus Energy and Ohme’s datasets and products to assess the impact of two demand response signals including:

Enduring signals, created by customers who chose to move from a flat tariff to a ToU tariff. Consumers who participated in this pilot reduced usage during evening peak periods by 15-17% and maintaned the reduction over a period of six months. Consumers with EVs reduced consumption by up to 23%.
One-off signals, which asked customers to sign up to a “Big Turn Up” or “Big Turn Down” event and rewarded those who changed their demand over a specified two-hour period. The “Big Turn Up” helped consumers reduce usage by 617% whilst the “Big Turn Down” resulted in a 59% reduction for EV owners and a 41% reduction for non-EV consumers.

The study and as such highlights an increasing importance of EVs as energy flexibility assets in future as the electrification and decarbonisation of the transport sector intensifies.

Matthew Hamilton, SSEN Project Manager for CrowdFlex said: “We are delighted to have completed Phase 1 of the CrowdFlex project. Flexibility will play a key role in the future smart electricity system and we are committed to ensuring that all customers have an opportunity to participate and benefit from offering domestic flexibility services. Helping the communities we serve to engage with the future electricity market will be the cornerstone of a just transition to net-zero.

“Establishing that households are willing and able to respond to signals to flex their demand is the first step. We hope to take this work forward by considering practical trials to prove reliability, repeatability and to investigate the costs of domestic flexibility.”

The study was funded by National Grid ESO’s and SSEN’s Network Innovation Allowance.

Find out more about the study.