Western Power Distribution (WPD) has seen a surge in domestic flexibility in its latest tender, with more than half of the contracted capacity coming from households reducing or deferring consumption during periods of high demand on the network.
The distribution network operator awarded contracts for almost 254MW of flexibility, bringing its total to date to 709MW across 62 locations.
Of this, domestic flexibility accounted for 152MW, with the vast majority – almost 150MW – coming from the supplier Octopus Energy. Electric vehicle charging company Electric Miles secured contracts for nearly 3MW of flexibility.
Distribution system operations manager Ben Godfrey said: “A good example of how domestic consumers can benefit from participating in flexibility is where owners of electric vehicles can reduce their rate of charge or choose to charge at times outside peak demand.
“152MW of the contracted flexibility in this round came from flexible domestic demand offered through electricity suppliers and aggregators. This is a notable increase from previous rounds and is really encouraging. We hope to see household participation continue to grow.”
James Eddison, chief technology officer at Octopus Energy, commented: “Our customers are some of the most engaged and climate-conscious in the country. Many of them are already using smart energy technologies such as EVs, heat pumps, and batteries alongside smart tariffs to move their energy usage when energy is cheaper and greener and the grid is less stressed.
“This tender will allow us to use those smart technologies to offer greater flexibility to WPD. We are able to use our own proprietary technology and participating customers’ EVs, batteries and heat pumps to manage demand and reduce stress on the grid at peak times.
“Customers will benefit too. A lot of the value is returned to customers through low-cost tariffs and their change in energy usage is unnoticeable thanks to our technology, which allows customers to say when they need charge and how much and we can schedule it around theirs and the network’s needs.”