FAQs about Outgoing Octopus

It sounds easy – simply begin studying the meter knowledge and calculate a credit score to go in your assertion. As the primary provider to supply a wise export tariff, we all know there’s a bit extra to it than that.

There are 4 essential steps to getting you onto Outgoing:

1. Test the FiT register. Because it’s not attainable to obtain each FiT export funds AND measured export we at all times examine the nationwide FiT register to see what you’ve already acquired. It is a handbook step the place we take a look at your account with us and seek for your tackle on Ofgem’s FiT register. If this reveals you’re already on a FiT then we work with you on the choices reminiscent of ceasing the Export a part of FiT; this requires us to replace the FiT register manually.
2. Test we have now the appropriate documentation. Aligned with the brand new Sensible Export Assure (SEG) we want a replica of the MCS (Microgeneration Certification Scheme) certificates, the DNO (Distribution Community Operator) Notification kind and the DNOs response. For older installs we’re seeing a excessive degree that haven’t been notified to the DNO which might trigger a number of weeks’ delay and frustration.
3. Use the trade methods to request a brand new, further, id for the meter referred to as the Export MPAN. That is one other system that we go online to and manually enter all the small print. Responses take between 2 days and a pair of weeks. If the DNO notification isn’t recorded the request will get rejected, or if the gear put in isn’t compliant it will get rejected.
4. Arrange our billing system with the brand new Export MPAN, most popular tariff and (the place related) line up the FiT Export finish date. Sometimes it takes 2 to 4 days for the completely different trade methods that our platform connects to to finish every part.

As well as, as export requires a wise meter, we’ll organize the set up in parallel for anybody that does not have already got a supported good meter. Sometimes we goal to put in good meters inside one to 2 months. As soon as the meter is put in, sometimes it takes as much as 10 days for the varied trade methods to catch up and for our platform to begin to obtain half-hourly knowledge.

We haven’t put a restrict on this. Export by way of any supply able to feeding vitality again to the grid. In order that’s not simply photo voltaic PV…

YOU CAN: get a micro-wind turbine put in, cost up residence batteries when vitality’s least expensive to feed again into the grid later, or (for those who’ve managed to get your arms on a vehicle-to-grid charger) use your electrical automobile’s spare battery

YOU CAN’T: construct a home-brew nuclear energy station, or run a cable out of your neighbour’s home and jack up their invoice by sending their electrical energy again to the grid. That’s simply not cricket.

Outgoing Octopus is greatest for houses with important renewable era, however you don’t HAVE to be producing vitality to profit.

Be a part of Outgoing Octopus and use residence batteries (or your EV battery, for those who’ve acquired maintain of a vehicle-to-grid charger…) to make the most of low consumption costs on our Agile tariff and excessive export charges on Outgoing Octopus. It’s a balancing act.

Retailer electrical energy at occasions of the day when the Agile costs are tremendous low and even unfavorable (on December 8 2018 Agile dropped to -2.31p per kWh). Then export out of your battery when vitality on the grid is most in demand, and most costly. Not solely are you powering your house with cheaper saved vitality, however supporting the grid when vitality is in excessive demand, and earning money off something further you export.

In case you’re exporting extra vitality than you’re utilizing, you would possibly even get your Octopus invoice into credit score. And we’ll even refund the money if you want. It’s value remembering, although, your house will devour battery discharge first earlier than sending the excess to the grid).

The Agile-like Outgoing cost is calculated from the day-ahead wholesale costs, Balancing Companies Use of System (BSUoS), Generator Distribution Use of System (GDUoS) and Transmission Community Use Of System (TNUoS) per UK area.
The formal calculation is: 

Agile Export fee = M * APX + B + C

The place: M is a multiplier to incorporate line losses, imbalance, buying and selling expenses, Octopus margin

APX is the APX day-ahead 30-minute wholesale worth transformed to p/kWh

B is the time of day impartial advantages and is predicated on BSUoS and GDUoS

C is the time of day dependent (peak) advantages and is predicated on TNUoS.  (C solely applies from 4-7pm)

Take a look at pattern half-hourly Outgoing costs by area for the entire of 2018 right here

The desk beneath reveals the set of regional coefficients for M, B & C.  APX is revealed for the day-ahead at round 4.00pm for the subsequent 11.00pm to 11.00pm slot.

Sure. Our open Agile API already offers entry to the Outgoing Octopus tariff! Drop us a line by way of agile@octopus.vitality to search out out extra.

There’s no restrict to the export fee set on our tariff, or in your good meter, and the full electrical energy you export per 30 days isn’t restricted.

Nonetheless, your house provide system received’t have the ability to deal with exporting vitality past a sure level. Your photo voltaic panel installer could have ensured their most output might be inside the restrict of the breaker in your house (often between 40 and 100 amps).

On Agile, our Plunge Pricing means we pay you to make use of electrical energy when wholesale charges are unfavorable. You would possibly assume we’d cost you to export vitality when this occurs – any main college scholar would inform you two negatives make a constructive. Effectively, we’ve damaged the maths and don’t consider you have to be penalised when this occurs. So when wholesale charges drop beneath zero the Outgoing Octopus fee will cease simply above zero. Whereas it’s a disgrace to not be credited on your export, you’ll be able to nonetheless be ok with doing one thing for the setting by sharing your clear, inexperienced photo voltaic vitality with the world.

Your good meter will measure the import and export values and report these in 30-minute blocks. So if for instance you devour 1kWh from 09:00 to 09:15 then at 09:15 you begin exporting (the clouds clear and it’s a heat sunny day, as an illustration) and export 2kWh from 09:16 to 09:30 then your invoice will present each 1kWh consumption and 2kWh export within the 9:00 to 9:30 interval. Your export quantity isn’t deducted from the consumption quantity.

The circulate of electrical energy into your house (consumption) and from your house (export) are measured individually by your good meter. There are separate ‘import’ and ‘export’ registers, so your meter doesn’t run backwards when it’s exporting!

This implies we monitor your consumption readings separate to your export ones. We take each measurements from the good meter and invoice (or credit score) your account based mostly on every.

You’ll have the ability to see in your meter’s in-home show while you’re exporting, and the quantity exported.

Your present consumption tariff* is unaffected while you apply for Outgoing Octopus. There’s no exit charges so you’ll be able to resolve to not proceed with Outgoing Octopus.

*Proper now, you’ll be able to’t be on Octopus Associate with Outgoing Mounted or Agile (the worth is so good it’d be like a double low cost!). As an alternative, we’ve created an incredible export possibility only for you. On Outgoing Lite, you’ll export energy at a fee of 8p / kWh. You possibly can join right here.

You might be on any commonplace import tariff (like Versatile Octopus) with Outgoing Octopus, however solely sure good tariffs.

This is the total checklist of Outgoing-compatible import tariffs.

At the moment, Octopus Go clients can’t be on Outgoing Mounted or Agile, however we’ve created an incredible export possibility only for Go clients: on Outgoing Mounted Lite, you’ll export energy at a fee of 8p / kWh. Go buyer? Simply get in contact to maneuver your export to Outgoing Lite.

For years, we’ve created bespoke good tariffs for patrons with all completely different sorts of cutting-edge low-carbon applied sciences.

Octopus Go, for EV drivers, was one of many very first. Outgoing Octopus got here a bit later: the UK’s first good export tariff, paying photo voltaic clients an incredible worth for sharing their spare inexperienced energy with the grid.

Till very lately, clients couldn’t mix an Octopus EV tariff with Outgoing Octopus for the easy incontrovertible fact that each tariffs had been such stonkingly good offers that combining them was successfully a ‘double low cost’. We often assessment our tariffs based mostly on market adjustments and wholesale vitality costs, and lately made the choice to vary this.

We’re providing clients on Clever Octopus the usual Outgoing Mounted worth of 15p/kWh as a result of the grid flexibility their good charging unlocks means better price financial savings.

However we’d by no means need Octopus Go clients to overlook out – so we created a Lite model of the Outgoing Mounted tariff to present you further reward on your photo voltaic too.

Seeking to hold your present provider and simply change your export to Octopus? No drawback – export solely clients can earn 4.1p/kWh for each unit they export. E-mail seg@octopus.vitality to search out out extra.

In contrast to all common consumption tariffs at Octopus, Outgoing Octopus doesn’t have an equal each day standing cost. This implies whether or not you handle to make the most of export or not, you received’t see any further expenses in your invoice.

Switching away might be simply the identical as for those who’re simply on certainly one of our consumption tariffs. We’ll work out a ultimate invoice based mostly on closing export and consumption readings. In case your ultimate stability is in credit score, we’ll refund it. Your new provider will let you already know if they’re able to present any equal export tariff.

Beneath FiT you can’t change your export through the first 12 months and after that, can solely change as soon as each 12 months.

We’re rolling out 3-phase and split-phase good meters in 2020 as soon as we’ve accomplished testing these meters with our billing system and the DCC good meter infrastructure.

Beneath FiT pointers, you receives a commission for being a generator, and paid for no matter you export.

You received’t have the ability to obtain FiT export funds while additionally being on the Outgoing Octopus tariff. Nonetheless, you’ll nonetheless have the ability to obtain your era funds. While you signal as much as the Outgoing Octopus, you may be required to choose out of your deemed export funds out of your present FiT provider (however there’s no requirement to change your FiT contract to Octopus.)

For brand new installations (that’s, after the FiT closure date of 1/4/2019) we’ll nonetheless require a replica of your Microgeneration Certificates Scheme (MSC) certification with the intention to get you onto the tariff.

Beneath the Feed-in-Tariff scheme, installations wanted to have a Microgeneration Certificates administered by the Microgeneration Certificates Scheme (MCS).

We are going to nonetheless require your renewable vitality era to be put in by a MCS accepted installer and to offer us with the MCS certificates.

We additionally advise that photo voltaic micro-gen is put in in accordance with the Renewable Vitality Code of Conduct (RECC).

The Sensible Export Assure (SEG) is the brand new scheme that got here into pressure on 1st January 2020 and requires vitality suppliers to buy exported electrical energy. Thankfully, we’ve been doing that ever since our outgoingOctopus launch.

You possibly can learn extra in regards to the Sensible Export Assure on Ofgem’s web site.

Your vitality assertion could have your consumption info, simply the identical as you’re used to seeing.

It will individually present the half-hourly breakdown of your export for the month. Don’t fear. We’ll offer you all of the element it’s worthwhile to carry on high of your payments.

50% Deemed was one possibility beneath FiT for getting paid on your export. That is usually the case the place an export meter wasn’t fitted and so it’s was assumed that fifty% of the photo voltaic vitality generated can be exported (the opposite 50% being consumed). That is calculated from the put in potential output of the photo voltaic panels on the time of set up. Chances are you’ll discover you might be nonetheless higher off holding the Deemed 50% than switching to Outgoing Octopus – for instance if in actual fact you might be exporting solely 20%, or if the photo voltaic panels aren’t optimally oriented to provide the potential output or have deteriorated over a number of years. Because the FiT Export fee is now 5.38pence and our flat fee is 15 pence then you might be higher off with Outgoing Octopus if (common over the yr) you export greater than round 50% of the put in functionality.

FiT funds are each Era and Export. Outgoing Octopus replaces the Export cost. However we’re additionally in a position to handle your Era FiT cost too for any FiT previous to the first April 2019 lower off date. Transferring your FiT Era cost is non-obligatory and never depending on being an Octopus buyer on your common consumption tariff. You’re additionally free to proceed to make use of your present FiT Era provider even for those who use Octopus on your common consumption and Outgoing Octopus for FiT Export cost.