CrowdFlex project successfully completes first phase of large-scale consumer trials

Initial results from this leading-edge innovation project reveal the future potential of domestic flexibility to help manage the grid.

Our major innovation project, CrowdFlex, has successfully completed its first phase of summer consumer trials, with 31 electricity demand shifting events held between May and July, incentivising consumers to use their electricity flexibly by adjusting their energy usage (turn up or down) or make assets like electric vehicles available to the grid for automated control of when to charge. 

The CrowdFlex trials tested different recruitment messages and incentive levels to investigate behavioural and technical influences on how consumers can play a larger role in balancing the national electricity system in future. 

OVO recruited approximately 37,000 customers to conduct utilisation payments trials, investigating customer demand response in a series of turn-up, turn-down and mixed response events. Consumers were encouraged to shift their energy during use into or out of event time windows, using or forgoing using energy intensive devices such as washing machines and dishwashers.

Ohme EV’s availability payments trials, with approximately 1,300 customers, explored the extent to which consumers with electric vehicles changed their plug-in behaviour using a variety of incentive levels and their willingness to allow remote dispatch of their EV charger. 

Subsequent trials within the CrowdFlex programme will further investigate the results from these first trials. 

Both OVO and Ohme implemented Randomised Control Trials to identify the flexibility response of domestic consumers. They used this trial design to investigate the impact of price sensitivity and fatigue effects of multiple events. 

Early indications suggest that low payment levels, the timings of events, and the notice period of events can all influence the flexibility response from consumers. 

In OVO’s trial, customers were asked to provide flexibility in both turn-up and down events. Demand turn-up events, when consumers were encouraged to shift their use of energy intensive devices such as washing machines into a set time, achieved up to a 3x greater magnitude of energy shift than conventional turn-down events. Demand turn-up events utilised the incentive of ‘discounted electricity’, which in the future could help utilise renewable energy when it is plentiful and avoid curtailment. Further research will be carried out in this area as it may also have the potential to encourage energy poverty or underrepresented groups to participate in future demand increase events, offering lower cost and greener energy. 

Another area of research being explored by CrowdFlex is how the national electricity system can coordinate with distribution networks to help manage thermal constraints and there are a number of different use cases reflecting a range of geographical challenges that could potentially be assisted with flexibility.

Ohme’s customers responded best to the recruitment message which focused on ‘getting paid,’ with non-fiscal messaging achieving a slightly lower recruitment rate. The trial increased average overnight plug-ins from 30% to 45% and daytime plug-ins from 10% to 18%.

Customer surveys of those who took part are currently underway, as well as plans for the next phase of CrowdFlex, the winter trials, consisting of 200 events with larger cohorts of customers: up to 20,000 for the availability ‘plug-in’ events and potentially over 100,000 for the utilisation events. The summer results are being used to refine the winter trials’ design, with the ambition to understand more about wider domestic customers archetypes and their technical capabilities, motivations and knowledge, and to increase understanding of detected behaviours.

ESO CrowdFlex Project Lead, Sanna Atherton, commented: 

"It’s exciting to see the first signs of the potential for domestic flexibility to help reliably manage the grid. CrowdFlex is developing this deeper understanding of consumer flexibility and forecasting and will start to establish domestic flexibility as a predictable resource for the control room, also helping consumers reduce their energy costs and another step towards decarbonisation of the energy system."

Elizabeth Allkins, OVO Head of Energy Strategy, said:

“CrowdFlex is the largest, multi-year domestic flexibility trial of its kind in the UK. At OVO we're excited to be able to discover and share deep insights on consumer flexibility behaviour with ESO and other network partners to accelerate the participation of domestic consumers in the energy transition."

David Watson, Ohme CEO, said:

"Ohme is pleased to be part of Crowdflex – we believe that domestic customers can have a material impact in providing grid flexibility services, which could save consumers £10 billion per year in energy costs by 2050*. Our summer trial results were very encouraging – we saw a high response rate alongside an increase in plug-in frequency from the customers who took part. Plugging-in is a key driver of flexibility, so we focused on what incentives would be required to deliver sustained behaviour change. Additionally, it was great to be able to reward our customers for plugging-in more, providing further benefits for drivers making the switch to an Electric Vehicle. We’re looking forward to the next phase in the upcoming winter trial."

*Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transitioning-to-a-net-zero-energy-system-smart-systems-and-flexibility-plan-2021 

The project, now in its two-and-a-half-year beta phase, was awarded funding through Ofgem’s Strategic Innovation Fund, which is managed in partnership with Innovate UK. The project is being delivered by a consortium of partners: OVO, Ohme, Centre for Net Zero, ERM, AWS, National Grid Electricity Distribution and Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks. The ESO is also being supported by Smart Grid Consultancy Ltd, CGI, Smith Institute and Centre for Sustainable Energy.