This Financial institution Vacation weekend, low demand for vitality mixed with a lot of renewable vitality is placing actual pressure on the nationwide grid. So we’re working a particular trial to see if dwelling prospects with sensible meters will help, and stop renewable vitality going to waste.
Clients who take part can be paid for each unit of electrical energy they use for 2 hours on Sunday.
That is one in all a number of sensible vitality trials we’re working for the time being. Discover out extra about our trials and what outcomes we share.
Regularly requested questions
Is that this legit? Will I really receives a commission for utilizing electrical energy?
That is proper, individuals can be paid for his or her electrical energy use. At this level, it is only a trial – however we expect this sort of factor can be way more frequent sooner or later. Operating trials now, whereas the UK continues to be underneath lockdown, may give us a greater understanding of the long run vitality system as an increasing number of renewable era turns into obtainable. By this trial, we are going to higher perceive how many individuals reply and the way they reply, which can assist us create new merchandise that may pace up the transition to a zero-carbon future.
How do I become involved?
Should you’ve acquired an e mail invitation from us, you are on the checklist. You may must tell us you wish to take part by clicking on the distinctive hyperlink in your e mail. We have invited as many individuals to take part as potential, however we won’t invite everybody. That is as a result of, as with all efficient trial, we want a management group to measure outcomes in opposition to. Secondly, this trial is pushing the technical boundaries of what’s potential with sensible meters, and we have needed to be a bit selective round sensible meter connectivity and reliability of receiving readings.
Members will earn a couple of pennies from the trial – if you have not acquired an invite, however would nonetheless like some pennies, drop us an e mail to howdy@octopus.vitality and we’ll pop a number of in your account.
It is also price noting the trials we’re working for the time being are the primary of their variety – however there can be lots extra alternatives like this sooner or later.
I am an Octopus buyer and I need a sensible meter. How do I get one?
We have briefly postponed sensible meter installations in mild of the federal government’s social distancing recommendation. We’ll be again up and working as quickly because it’s secure to take action — if you would like us to let you realize when we’ve an installer obtainable in your space, register your curiosity in your on-line account.
Why is that this taking place?
This Financial institution Vacation weekend, the UK’s grid goes to be positioned underneath huge pressure, on account of unprecedented adjustments in our nationwide vitality use introduced on by the Coronavirus outbreak.
The UK’s vitality grid must be balanced in actual time, matching provide (the vitality being generated) with demand (the vitality we use). An excessive amount of or too little energy going into the grid, and the system turns into unstable, which may trigger blackouts.
Social distancing measures have led to file low vitality demand as companies and factories shut their doorways. This Financial institution Vacation weekend, the UK’s vitality demand is ready to succeed in new lows, and with sunny and windy climate on the horizon, there’ll be an enormous provide of photo voltaic and wind energy that the UK can’t deplete.
Proper now, the grid is a little bit like an overstacked shelf, with a shopkeeper loading on an increasing number of tins at a time when nobody is taking them again off once more. Finally, the shelf will collapse.
There’s two choices to deal with this. The store can both cease placing tins on the cabinets, or, it may do one thing to encourage extra individuals to take cans.
The issue with ‘turning down’ vitality era to remain balanced (i.e. no extra new cans on the shelf), is that it’s going to probably imply asking small photo voltaic and wind turbines to change off. It’s a waste of inexperienced energy, and will even hurt small UK renewable turbines as they lose the chance to promote their clear vitality.
So as an alternative of turning down renewables, we wish to collectively ‘flip up’, growing our vitality use throughout the occasions when there’s an excessive amount of wind and solar energy on the grid – i.e. taking the inexperienced ‘tins’ off the overstacked shelf.
How can it probably be greener to inform individuals to make use of extra vitality?
It’s not likely about utilizing MORE vitality – it’s about altering WHEN you employ it. Day by day, there are vitality ‘rush hours’: occasions of day when most individuals prepare dinner dinner, put the tellie on, do the washing, have a bathe. Often it’s between 4-7pm, when it’s most handy and most of the people are dwelling. It doesn’t matter what, the grid at all times has to fulfill our excessive demand throughout these vitality ‘rush hours’ – and that usually means burning further fossil fuels.
As a substitute of including to the demand on the busiest occasions of day, why not do the whole lot you’ll be able to to maneuver your vitality use into occasions when the grid has inexperienced vitality to spare? You continue to get to do the washing, cleansing, charging, baking – however you simply select to do it when vitality is low-carbon.
Is that this a one-off?
No. It is a trial in what vitality nerds name ‘demand facet response’ – which is mainly a consumer-led effort to shift vitality consumption into occasions when there’s inexperienced energy to spare, and out of the busiest (and dirtiest) occasions daily.
Because the UK’s energy will get greener and greener, with extra wind and photo voltaic and fewer coal and oil, there’ll be an increasing number of incidences the place provide outmatches demand. The vitality trade is scrambling to search out methods to fulfill this problem.
We reckon rewarding prospects for doing their bit to make the UK’s vitality system smarter and greener will pace up the massive change all of us want: bringing a few fossil-fuel free, sustainable vitality system sooner.
