Page 1 of 1

National Grid's "Crowdflex" DSR trial

Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2024 10:21 am
by dan_b
Was anyone on here involved with these trials - I suspect most are on Octopus rather than Ovo and we've all been having fun with their DSR experiments, but does anyone run an Ohme smart EV charger?

https://www.nationalgrideso.com/news/cr ... mer-trials

Re: National Grid's "Crowdflex" DSR trial

Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2024 10:55 am
by Fintray
dan_b wrote: Wed Aug 28, 2024 10:21 am does anyone run an Ohme smart EV charger?
I do.

Re: National Grid's "Crowdflex" DSR trial

Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2024 11:20 am
by dan_b
Were you aware/involved in this trial?

Re: National Grid's "Crowdflex" DSR trial

Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2024 11:34 am
by Fintray
dan_b wrote: Wed Aug 28, 2024 11:20 am Were you aware/involved in this trial?
No and no.

Re: National Grid's "Crowdflex" DSR trial

Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2024 12:55 pm
by nowty
It seems Octopus where in on it in the early days in 2021.
https://octopus.energy/press/energy-con ... ity-study/

"London, 28 June 2021 - Entech pioneers Octopus Energy and Ohme have teamed up with National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) and Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) for the UK’s largest ever home energy flexibility study.

CrowdFlex, as the study will be called, will start in June and involve over 25,000 households. It will analyse customer energy use patterns to demonstrate how they might change their behaviour and charge electric vehicles, heat pumps and home batteries at different times to access cheaper, greener power."



But no mention of Octopus in this years campaign,
https://www.nationalgrideso.com/future- ... /crowdflex

"Recruitment for these trials commenced in spring 2024, with OVO Energy and Ohme EV offering the service to their customers.

Crowdflex is also being delivered by a consortium from across the energy sector: Centre for Net Zero, Element Energy, Amazon Web Services (AWS), National Grid Electricity Distribution, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, The Smith Institute and Centre for Sustainable Energy."



EDIT - Although info on the OVO website suggests Octopus are part of it this year.
https://www.ovoenergy.com/crowdflex-faqs
"OVO is participating in CrowdFlex, a trial designed to shape the future of the electricity grid. We’ve teamed up with industry experts including the Electricity Systems Operator (ESO), Centre for Net Zero, Centre for Sustainable Energy, ERM (Environmental Resources Management), Octopus Energy, Ohme Technology, National Grid Electricity Distribution, Scottish and Southern Energy Networks, and Smiths Institute.

CrowdFlex is a series of trials running from 1 May 2024 until December 2025 aimed at understanding how households can contribute to a greener electricity grid. Trial 1 ended in July 2024. Trial 2 will take place from September 2024 to March 2025."

Re: National Grid's "Crowdflex" DSR trial

Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2024 7:36 pm
by AE-NMidlands
but Octopus did do something recently. Free electricity from 1 to 2 pm on 15, 18 and 21 Aug. I didn't understand it unless it was an experiment they were being paid to do, as I didn't thnk the wholesale price was negative, so I concluded they were just spending some of their marketing budget on customers rather than PR firms.

Re: National Grid's "Crowdflex" DSR trial

Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2024 9:04 pm
by nowty
AE-NMidlands wrote: Wed Aug 28, 2024 7:36 pm but Octopus did do something recently. Free electricity from 1 to 2 pm on 15, 18 and 21 Aug. I didn't understand it unless it was an experiment they were being paid to do, as I didn't thnk the wholesale price was negative, so I concluded they were just spending some of their marketing budget on customers rather than PR firms.
Yes but the article was about Ohme EV chargers and not free power hours so I don't think they are the same. There does seem to be several different types of experiments going on, Octopus has agreed some direct with specific DNO's in the east of the country but the recent power hour's was national.

Then soon we will be back with the saving sessions which will be the DFS and run continuously from Nov onwards and in time include splurge sessions.