OVO Energy has launched a new scheme dubbed “Power Move” that aims to reduce the demand on the energy grid and provide up to £100 in savings for households this winter.
The scheme will initially run as a trial that will gather data to develop the company’s understanding of usage during peak times, helping OVO to create further propositions that support a greener and more resilient energy system.
This could be potentially crucial to support the energy system this winter. While households will be largely protected from the market volatility thanks to the electricity price now being now capped at 34p/kWh, gas at 10.3p/kWh, inclusive of VAT, the stability of the system is still a concern.
National Grid ESO yesterday laid out its Winter Outlook, which suggested that while the operator had a range of tools at its disposal margins will be tight, and did show that if there are CCGT outages and limited availability of interconnectors there is the potential for blackouts this winter.
“The UK energy sector is at a crucial point, and we need a resilient grid to get us through this winter,” said Raman Bhatia, CEO OVO.
“This trial provides essential consumer data which can be shared with the Government and the National Grid to prevent power shortages and will give customers a deeper insight into their energy consumption habits, with great potential savings.”
The trial rewards customers up to £100 in total for moving non-essential energy use to times when the grid is, on average, greener and less congested.
Using customer data, OVO has determined that between 4pm – 7pm is usually when demand on the energy grid is usually the highest.
The data showed that the average household uses 19% of their daily total usage during these hours. At these times of peak demand, OVO stated that there is often not enough renewable energy to go round, and so dirtier carbon-heavy power fires up to fill the gap.
The scheme hopes it will help customers cut their average consumption during these hours to less than 12.5%. £20 will be rewarded for each month that this is achieved on average with the trial running from 1 November 2022 – 31 March 2023.
Shifting demand to ease the strain on the grid is being explored by a number of parties currently. National Grid ESO is introducing a Demand Flexibility Service for example, which will reward customers for turning down their use during preset times.
This service has been rapidly designed and developed, and will be contracted to run for an initial period of November 2022 to March 2023. Those taking part will be given 24 hours to react to signals from the operator.
It was announced at the beginning of 2022, and has now been trialled together with Octopus Energy amongst others.
In early September, OVO revealed a 10-point plan aiming to tackle the national energy crisis. The 10-point plan included short, medium and long-term measures for the UK Government to adopt and implement in order to support households this winter.
By George Heynes
Solar Media
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