Notice

Alternative Energy Markets Innovation Programme: Phase 1 projects (added 24 May 2023)

Updated 23 February 2024

Chameleon Alternative Market for Energy Assessment (CAMEA)

Participant organisations:

• Chameleon Technology
• Evergreen Energy
• Green Energy (UK) Ltd
• Solo Energy Limited
• Energy Systems Catapult

Project costs: £497,387.80

Project summary:

Energy technology SMEs, Chameleon Technology and Evergreen Energy, propose to leverage their experience in consumer engagement, home energy optimisation and energy smart appliances to design, evaluate and iterate a number of energy supplier agnostic flexibility propositions and test these against potential future energy market scenarios. They will then define a large-scale trial to demonstrate their proposal in both simulated (via the living lab) and real-world environment in customer homes in Phase 2. The consortium also includes energy supplier Green Energy UK, pioneers of time of use tariffs in the UK; SMS plc, whose Flexigrid platform is already being used to aggregate domestic loads to offer flexibility services, energy market and modelling experts Cornwall Insight and the Energy Systems Catapult

Designing alternative energy market options through novel simulations

Participant organisations:

• Energy Systems Catapult
• OVO Energy Ltd

Project costs: £499,599.36

Project summary:

Energy Systems Catapult (ESC) is working with OVO Energy and CEPA, bringing together a team of experts across policy, consumer research and energy modelling to design innovative domestic flexibility propositions under potential alternative energy markets. The project will demonstrate the value that domestic demand side response solutions can bring to consumers and proposition providers, in enabling a smart and flexible future energy system. It will consider a breadth of propositions, combining low carbon distributed energy assets and other smart energy innovations, to a range of consumer segments building in tariffs, products and services. These will be assessed against consumer needs, commercial and technical feasibility in combination with electricity system/market modelling to understand their contribution and value to delivering flexibility net benefits to the energy system.

Flexibility Assets and Smart Homes (FLASH)

Participant organisations:

• EDF Energy R&D UK Centre Ltd
• EDF Energy Customers Limited
• LCP Delta
• Landis+Gyr Ltd

Project costs: £375,881.02

Project summary:

Project FLASH (FLexibility Assets and Smart Homes) is a collaborative project between electricity generator and supplier, EDF, smart energy system manufacturer, Landis+Gyr and research consultancy LCP Delta to develop energy storage products and innovative tariffs with the ambition to support customers to reduce their energy bills, whilst significantly championing net zero by supporting customers in reducing their environmental impact. Project FLASH aims to do this through supporting households in reducing their peak energy demand through assessing the value that new low carbon technologies, storage product bundles and bespoke tariffs can provide to consumers at a domestic level, thereby helping customers to lower their energy bills whilst at the same time reducing pressure on the grid. Structured consumer focus groups will be held throughout the feasibility study to capture key insights and perspectives and to inform future propositions that will be aimed at providing significant value to consumers at a micro-level, whilst supporting grid infrastructure at a macro-level.

Intelligent Smart Energy Engine (ISEE)

Participant organisations:

• Solo Energy Limited
• Engage Consulting Ltd
• Evergreen Energy
• MyUtilityGenius Commercial Ltd
• Samsung Electronics UK
• Hugo Technologies Ltd
• Rebel Energy Supply Limited
• Shell Energy Retail Limited

Project costs: £497,171.62

Project summary:

Led by SMS PLC (Solo Energy), supported by its partners MyUtilityGenius, Engage Consulting, Samsung Research UK, Evergreen Energy, Shell Energy Retail and Rebel Energy, project ISEE has been formed to assess the impact of 5 alternative energy market scenarios.

The project proposes to build a tariff proposition engine based on the principles of an energy comparison engine:

• an engine that uses half hourly data from the smart meters of consumers
• combines this with details on any energy smart appliances (ESAs) in or planned to be in the premises
• optimises a tariff structure that solves for best cost for consumer whilst utilising intelligent systems to control the ESAs

The Intelligent Smart Energy Engine (ISEE) designs a tariff suitable for the consumers profile, ESAs and associated flexibility of such assets to align with the tariff, optimised for the consumers benefit. This tariff and flexibility design will be made available to energy suppliers to adopt and supply a group of suitable consumers.