A deal signed at COP26 aims to help Belgium and Germany transition to a smart green grid.
The partnership, between Octopus Energy Group’s Kraken Technologies and Belgian energy innovator Elia Group, is intended to allow energy system operators to use Octopus Energy’s flexibility platform, Kraken Flex, and Elia Group’s energy data affiliate, re.alto, to use green technologies such as electric vehicles (EVs) and heat pumps to balance the grid and support the shift to a renewable energy system.
Customers will be given the freedom to use their appliances and adjust their consumption patterns to benefit from cheaper renewable energy on the grid when it is abundant, while grid operators will be able to better balance supply and demand without disruption to end consumers.
Changing customer’s energy use around peak times is essential to the future of the grid system. By managing demand flexibly through smart technologies such as electric cars, heat pumps and home batteries, grid operators can better balance the supply of renewable energy.
Consumers who take part will also benefit from real-time energy data from KrakenFlex and re.alto’s API, allowing them to optimise the use of their electric household appliances in line with grid supply and demand. The central management of this data will be provided by KrakenFlex and re.alto.
Chris Peeters, CEO of Elia Group, comments:
“We both want the electricity system to adapt to the new reality of micro-flexibility offered by end consumers, which can only be achieved through the provision of solutions that meet new consumer needs associated with electric vehicles and heat pumps. We will learn a lot from each other, applying our joint expertise to place consumers at the centre of the clean energy transition. ”
KrakenFlex, previously Upside Energy, was founded in 2014 and acquired by Octopus Energy Group in 2020. Part of the Kraken technology platform, Kraken Flex connects with a whole host of clean energy technologies, allowing it to manage those devices to match real-time energy demand and supply. This helps to balance the grid and enables customers to capitalize on cheaper, greener power.
re.alto was founded in 2019 by Elia Group. It is the first European digital marketplace for energy data and services that enables the exchange of energy data through an innovative API platform (which is the first of its kind in the energy industry).
Octopus Energy Group also recently announced a major investment from Generation Investment Management, a company chaired and co-founded by Al Gore, to expand their mission and the Kraken platform globally, in a deal that valued the UK entech firm at $4.6 billion.
