Smarter, cleaner, cheaper: Octopus launches new smart tariff to unlock solar and storage

• Octopus Energy announces launch of UK’s smartest tariff - ‘Intelligent Octopus Flux’
• Tariff available for customers with solar panels and battery storage
• Cuts bills by more than £450 while unlocking full potential of clean energy tech

London, 19th July 2023 – Octopus Energy announces the launch of the UK’s smartest tariff to help households optimise their solar panels and batteries while helping balance the grid.

‘Intelligent Octopus Flux’ (IOF) offers the same rate for both importing and exporting electricity, with a 21-hour off peak window priced 10% below Octopus Energy’s standard variable tariff ‘Flexible Octopus’ and a three-hour ‘peak’ window between 4pm and 7pm*.

Customers on IOF will be able to save more than £450 a year compared to customers on ‘Flexible Octopus’ and its fixed export tariff ‘Octopus Outgoing’.

The combo import-export tariff is available to new and existing customers who have solar panels and eligible batteries installed in their homes.

This next generation tariff is powered by Kraken, Octopus’ proprietary tech platform, and optimises a home’s batteries and solar panels to better use green electrons when they are abundant and cheap.

Until now, solar and battery owners had to manually programme their tech to charge and discharge. IOF removes this hassle – allowing customers to automatically receive the best rates for both the power they use (import) and the power they sell back (export) to the grid.

Octopus has been a pioneer of smart tariffs for several years. It offers a range of different smart tariffs to suit customers’ homes and engagement with their energy use, all of which help to unlock the benefits of a renewable grid.

In 2022, the UK spent £215 million on turning wind farms off, and over £715 million on turning on gas power plants**.

Improving grid flexibility through tariffs like IOF reduces the need for National Grid to pay renewable energy generators to switch off and fossil fuel power plants to switch on when the grid is under stress. This will help reduce everyone’s bills as these costs are paid for by all energy consumers.

Alex Schoch, Head of Flexibility at Octopus Energy Group, says: “Octopus Energy continues to unlock a grid system that is green, cheap and easy for customers. Next generation smart tariffs like Intelligent Octopus Flux optimise energy tech in people’s homes – passing on savings to customers while stopping the need for dirty fossil fuel plants at peak times.”

“We’ve seen an 80% increase in demand for our smart tariffs since 2022, and everyone benefits. The learnings we get from managing smart tariffs teaches us how to run initiatives like ‘Saving Sessions’, where millions of energy customers were paid to use less energy at ‘dirty’ times.”

Intelligent Octopus Flux is a beta tariff and has been launched to optimise with GivEnergy batteries, however, more battery brands will be integrated this year. The waiting list is open now.

To learn more about Intelligent Octopus Flux please visit: octopus.energy/intelligent-octopus-flux

-ENDS-

Notes to editors

*Import/Export rate:

• Off-peak (7pm - 4pm): Below Flexible Octopus: 27.1 p/kWh at Current Flexible prices
• Peak (4pm - 7pm): Above Flexible Octopus: 36.1 p/kWh at Current Flexible prices

** Daily Telegraph - 25th January 2023

Media contacts

Octopus Energy Press office

press@octoenergy.com

+44 20 4530 8369

About Octopus Energy Group

Octopus Energy Group is a global energy tech pioneer, launched in 2016 to use technology to unlock a customer focused and affordable green energy revolution. With operations in 14 countries, Octopus Energy Group has a truly global reach.

Octopus’s domestic energy arm already serves 5.1 million customers with cheaper greener power, through Octopus Energy, Bulb, Affect Energy, Ebico, London Power and Co-op Energy. Octopus Electric Vehicles is helping make clean transport cheaper and easier, and Octopus Energy Services is bringing smart products to thousands of homes. Octopus Energy Generation is one of Europe’s largest investors in renewable energy, managing a nearly £6 billion portfolio of renewable energy assets across the globe.

All of these are made possible by Octopus’s tech arm, Kraken Technologies, which offers a proprietary, in-house platform 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. This technology has been licensed to support 30 million customer accounts worldwide, through deals with EDF Energy, Good Energy, E.ON energy and Origin Energy.

In December 2021, Octopus Energy Group was valued at approximately $5 billion following investments from Generation Investment Management and Canada Pensions Plan Investments Board. Both investors back businesses that drive sustainability, promote green energy and tackle climate change. These were the company’s third and fourth major investments since launching to the market.

For more information, check out our website.