Octopus Energy Group’s Kraken will control heat pumps and other energy tech to automatically reduce bills for Belgian households

6th October 2022 - Pioneering entech platform Kraken has been licensed by energy solutions provider Noven to save Belgian households from costly peak energy costs, through a mix of smart home technology and flexibility technology.

Noven will test the Kraken platform to control heat pumps, solar panels, EV chargers and smart meters to automatically reduce consumption and ensure customers avoid the costly peak charges. It is the first time domestic flexibility has been harnessed in this way in the country.

Following a number of successful flexibility trials like this in the UK, which saw over 100,000 consumers willingly reduce usage in return for savings, Kraken and Noven are hoping to expand the project and bring down grid costs and energy bills for everyone in Belgium.

Kraken offers its clients end-to-end management of the whole energy supply chain through one simple platform, creating relentless efficiency, flexibility to a scale never seen before and unrivalled scaling potential in a renewable world. Its flexibility division is currently contracted to control over 3,800 MW across 10,000 green energy assets. The platform is targeting management of 25,000 devices and 6,000 MW of energy capacity by 2023. The platform recently went live in Canada for the first time with a 500kW Tesla battery owned by Hydro REIN.

Devrim Celal, CEO of Kraken, comments: “We feel very privileged to have been selected to help Belgium create a smarter ecosystem for energy users. This next partnership with Noven will allow the same benefits of cheaper, greener energy to be passed on to households.

“By remotely managing a plethora of home devices, we are able to save customers money without impacting their day to day lives. Boundary pushing technology projects like this will be the best way to reduce our reliance on dirty gas and move the whole continent away from exposure to high wholesale energy prices to bring costs down through the whole system.”

Belgium households will soon have a capacity threshold beyond which, if surpassed, means consumers will begin to be charged at a higher rate.

In Belgium, system operator Elia and Kraken have already begun working on a number of projects to create the green grid of the future in Belgium, and now Kraken is looking after other companies along the supply chain, including Noven.

Pieter-Jan Degroote, Project Manager at Noven, comments: “It’s through boundary pushing technology projects like these that we will be able to reduce our reliance on dirty gas. It will not only allow Europe to move away from high wholesale energy prices, but it will also help promote greener energy solutions. ”

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

Press contact:

Octopus Energy Group / Kraken

Dominic Bellamy

PR Manager

+44 7572900987

dominic.bellamy@octoenergy.com

About Kraken Technologies

Kraken Technologies offers a best-in-class end-to-end platform for energy supply, and is operating in the UK, Japan, North America, Europe, New Zealand and Australia. Kraken’s proprietary platform is contracted to serve over 25 million energy accounts across the globe through licensees and its partnership with Octopus Energy, where it is responsible for the acquisition and management of over 3.2 million retail customers and over 40,000 business customers (the largest of which is Arsenal FC).

Based on advanced data and machine learning capabilities, Kraken automates much of the energy supply chain to allow outstanding service and efficiency as the world transitions to a decentralised, decarbonised energy system.

Its flexibility arm is currently contracted to control over 3,800 MW across 10,000 green energy assets. The platform connects with clean energy technologies such as batteries, electric vehicles and heat pumps, allowing it to manage those devices to match real-time energy demand and supply. This helps to balance the grid and enables customers to capitalise on cheaper, greener power.

Kraken Technologies is part of energy technology B-corp Octopus Energy Group, and was developed to enable select third parties to take advantage of the technologies developed by Octopus Energy. It has already been licensed by major global players including Origin Energy, E.ON, Tokyo Gas and EDF.

For more information, check out our website.