Domestic battery owners offered £500 to provide flexibility to local grid

Social Energy is offering homeowners with a battery the chance to earn £500 by providing flexibility to the local electricity network during periods of high demand.

The supplier is initially looking for around 100 households in specific areas of South London, Hertfordshire and Kent.

Sign-ups will each receive an annual payment of £125 to allow Social Energy to operate their batteries and make them available to discharge between 5pm and 7pm on weekdays.

If instructed to do so, the electricity will first be used to power the homeowners’ own electrical appliances, with any extra electricity being exported to the grid.

The batteries will be used to fulfil a four-year contract for 0.14MW of demand-side response awarded to Social Energy by UK Power Networks in February.

The supplier said homeowners who don’t have one already could expect to pay around £5,000 to have a battery system installed, meaning the payments would cover around one tenth of the upfront cost. It said they could also cut their energy bills by more than £500 per year by combining the batteries with solar panels.

Social Energy chief technology officer Steve Day said: “We’re delighted to be working with UK Power Networks to be part of transforming energy for people in the area.

“Homeowners here have an incredible opportunity to be part of this exciting project to move towards a smart grid – going green, saving money and supporting the future of energy.”