There are various network operators (parties all involved in the UKs energy infrastructure) - that work with companies that have large batteries to provide either a storage facility or additional energy within a very short time scale (which means that these batteries, can make more money than just the savings they can make from self consumption - especially because they are an expensive commodity). Where the operator (including national grid), either have too much or too little power to support current/future demand in their area.
We are amongst the first that have looked at domestic sized batteries, aggregated them to make a larger scale battery nearing 0.5 mW of power for each cluster, and therefore being able to offer services to these operators - which opens the ability for end users such as yourself to benefit financially from trading the capacity or power you have on your storage asset.
If you have signed up for our services, your battery will under go a testing and tender process. Once complete you'll start providing Grid Services which is where your battery works to balance the demand of the grid. We're the only company to have passed national grid testing for our customers batteries meaning your battery can be used to balance the Network.
It’s a common misconception that grid balancing is a one-off occurrence. It's actually happening all the time. And your battery will behave differently depending on the service you included in (you can read about these here). The reason for some of this behaviour is to ensure there is enough space in your battery to be able to charge up from the grid or enough energy left in your battery to pass back to the grid when needed. The clever AI does all this and then lets you use the rest of the energy in the most cost-effective way.
You will notice your battery doing different things when you are providing grid balancing services. You will see import and export to the grid at different times during the day that might be different to what you are used to seeing before you were providing this service.
Although there could be a small cost for doing this, it will be outweighed by the credit payments you’ll get. This is always considered when opting your system into these services.
If you would like to read more on what services we participate in, you can read on here.