Scottish Power has partnered with energy management firm Equiwatt to help its customers to participate in the Electricity System Operator’s Demand Flexibility Service this winter.
The Equiwatt smartphone app rewards customers for reducing their electricity consumption during ‘powerDOWN’ events with points that can be redeemed for high-street shopping vouchers or donated to charity.
Customers of any supplier had already been able to use the app to participate in the Demand Flexibility Service (DFS) since it was created last winter. The “virtual power plant” app, which currently has almost 100,000 users, can access their smart meter data directly from the Data Communications Company, allowing Equiwatt to provide the service independently of their supplier.
The app has also been utilised for multiple industry trials, including National Grid’s Equinox (Equitable Novel Flexibility Exchange) project for heat pump owners and SSEN’s Project LEO (Local Energy Oxfordshire).
Equiwatt has now adapted its app to create a separate white-label version, named Power Saver, specifically for use by Scottish Power and its customers.
Speaking to Utility Week, Equiwatt chief executive Johnson Fernandes said around 10,000 of its users participated in the first iteration of the DFS last winter. He said the partnership with Scottish Power will help them to achieve their aim of increasing this figure ten-fold this winter: “We want to get out technology and offering to as many customers as possible in as short a span of time as possible.”
He said the partnership will offer similar benefits to Scottish Power. By working with Equiwatt – a “nimble and agile” start-up that is “hyper-focused” on this issue – Fernandes says the supplier will be able to “get quicker to market” than if it had developed an app in house.
Rob McGaughey, head of smart heat and cities at Scottish Power commented: “As a leading renewable energy company, Scottish Power is helping quicken the pace of decarbonisation in communities and homes up and down the UK.
“Greener technologies such as heat pumps will play a massive role in that, but just as important is providing our customers with ways to save, manage and take more control over their energy usage.
“However, our Power Saver App and events are more than just a way for Scottish Power customers to earn rewards. By harnessing flexibility, we are making the best use of green energy available to us and reducing the grid’s reliance on fossil fuel sources.”
National Grid ESO has announced that a live DFS event will take place for the first time this winter between 5pm and 6.30pm on Wednesday evening (29 November). The first test event took place earlier this month.
In October, the ESO confirmed several changes to the service this winter, including the removal of the minimum price for test events, currently set at £3/kWh, from the beginning of 2024. It also abolished the in-day adjustment to households’ baseline consumption to prevent people gaming the service by artificially increasing their electricity usage in the lead up to events.