Can energy companies play a social role in the renewable energy transition?

As an Octopus Cosy heat pump owner, this was a brilliant day out for me, seeing behind the scenes of where ‘Connie’ (my heat pump named after the Octopus Energy’s Constantine) came from, and the next renewable energy developments on the horizon. We got to see lots of exciting energy technology such as heat pumps, solar PVs and batteries, and hear from the team leading on partnership enablement.

In addition, we saw the centre where materials are calculated, picked, packed and shipped off ahead of heat pump installations such as Connie. As a recipient of this delivery, it was interesting to see its carefully orchestrated inception, ahead of the installer’s arrival in their electric vans.

We had the opportunity to explore where new technology is being developed, prototyped, and tested, with Octopus Energy having its own temperature, noise, and performance testing facilities, some of which they had to design and build themselves because the technology is so new. Luckily the weather chamber wasn’t set to ‘blizzard’ during the visit! Octopus has also fabricated two typical UK-style homes within the facility, so that products can be installed and tested in a real-life environment. A floor level ‘roof’ enables the testing of PV products and provides a training environment for installers.

In particular, we heard from those involved in Octopus Energy’s Zero Bills scheme, where they are working with developers to build super energy efficient houses, filling them with smart energy technology, PVs, batteries and heat pumps, and then offering residents no home energy bills for at least 10 years, guaranteed. The technology platform, Kraken, runs the homes in the most energy efficient way, monitoring the grid, using storage, and selling surplus back to the grid.

The visit was also an opportunity to share the work of EDRC, and Octopus was keen to find out about EDRC’s findings and tools such as the Carbon & Place online tool for helping to understand local carbon footprints. As Prof Mari Martiskainen, EDRC Director, said; “we discussed the importance of considering both people and tech in the clean energy transition – while the shiny tech is exciting to us energy geeks, people and their needs matter in their successful wider uptake.” What about people who don’t own their own homes, for example? People who don’t have space for a water cylinder? People in social housing? Or people experiencing energy injustice as they can’t afford to heat their homes or are in arrears on their energy bills.

Octopus Energy is working on innovations to fit technology into smaller spaces that will be suitable for more types of homes, as well as starting to roll out ‘Zero Bills’ to existing homes through retrofitting. We also got to learn about the ‘Tenant Power’ tariff enabled through a piece of kit, effectively adding in another electricity metre between PVs/batteries and the home they are installed on; tenants get a cheaper energy tariff, and landlords export excess energy to the grid. To enable a broader reach of renewables, Octopus Energy is also working closely with other actors involved in the energy landscape.

There’s so much relational work involved in the energy transition, and this is where the partnership engagement people come in. We heard about how they are building relationships with social housing providers and local authorities to develop Zero Bills homes beyond the private market. Octopus also works closely with estate agents marketing the homes, sharing knowledge of Zero Bills. As technological innovation forges ahead, so does the need for more relationship building as new challenges are uncovered. Octopus is also bringing skilled trades people together into installation teams, and the training areas of the site had a community feel to them.

Of course, consumers themselves are a massive part of the story, Emma Fletcher, Innovation Director at Octopus Energy Homes explained that a big part of why she had been offered the position at Octopus was her work bringing her local community together and moving everyone off oil heating. Octopus colleagues explained how they start with the customer and work backwards. It was evident from the visit that a lot of effort is going into making things acceptable and as ‘normal’ for consumers as possible. We talked a lot about the importance of trust in achieving the transition to renewables. Octopus highlighted that they are very well trusted by their customers, and from their perspective, it is more a case of overcoming anxiety about using new types of products, which they are working hard to overcome. Perhaps most unique is the infrastructural community Octopus Energy is developing, again through technology. Each home with PVs represents an individual ‘power station’, and collectively all of these homes make a community generating significant contributions of energy to the grid, managed through Kraken’s own systems.

As I alluded to, I occasionally refer to my heat pump as ‘Connie’, Emma also regaled us with a story of a customer who had built a shrine to their heat pump. A couple of us light-heartedly discussed the possibilities of heat pumps becoming art installations – Banksy, if you are reading this, probably check the heat pump warranty details first! Perhaps the energy transition is an opportunity for us to connect more closely with the energy we use, seeing the heat being drawn out of the air and into our homes, powered from the sunlight shining down on our roofs. Perhaps this enables us to see energy for what it is, beyond something having value because we put an economic price on it, and instead to value in and of itself as a natural resource we can use sustainably.

For a fantastic visit, and to see some fantastic work going into the transition to renewables. Technology is an inevitable part of the energy transition, it’s what we do with that technology that opens up a myriad of socio-economic and environmental possibilities.  All in all, a thought-provoking day, fantastic to see all the technological innovations in the mix, but also the relational connections being facilitated, and interesting tariffs being rolled out. All in what seems like a vibrant and fun place to work, where you can arrive at your lunch area via slide! Thanks to Emma and the team for showing us around.