A survey of 100 food and drink companies in the UK with more than 250 employees has revealed 99 per cent believe the expected benefits will be worth the investment.
The survey, which was undertaken by Npower Business Solutions (NBS), has also revealed that participation by the respondents in demand side response (DSR) has more than doubled since last year, rising by 64 per cent to 82 per cent.
Despite companies that participate in DSR being paid for reducing or temporarily halting their energy consumption only 26 per cent cited affordable energy as the primary reason for participating.
Instead 46 per cent believe the move to a low carbon economy is the most important element.
Head of NBS David Reed said: “New technologies and business models allow businesses to take control of their energy management.
“The food and drink industry for example can use refrigeration load to flex demand, with just a few small on-site additions to the infrastructure, resulting in significant savings.”
System operator National Grid introduced its ‘Demand Turn-Up’ offering this summer which allows businesses to be rewarded for turning up their demand, or reducing their output from embedded generation when wind and solar output is high.
NBS said it is the first energy company to develop an in-house DSR aggregation facility which it will be bringing to market later this year.