This winter, heat pump owners in the Midlands, South West and South Wales will be invited to take part in a trial to save around £100 on their bills by turning their heat pumps off for certain two hour periods.
The EQUINOX trial is being led by National Grid’s electricity distribution business, formerly Western Power Distribution. The trial is designed to help customers save money on bills while National Grid can test to what extent changing consumer consumption can help to increase grid flexibility.
Recruitment has commenced, with the aim of starting the trial in December 2022. EQUINOX partners, Octopus Energy and Sero, are conducting outreach efforts to recruit interested customers.
Stuart Fowler, innovation engineer at National Grid and EQUINOX project manager, said: “EQUINOX is about putting customers at the heart of a more flexible energy system and seeks to utilise the supplier, customer relationship to test consumer appetite for demand side services. These services will be vital for a more flexible grid and security of supply. We are really excited about the learning potential from EQUINOX and glad to have such a great consortia.”
The EQUINOX trial will run every winter from 2022 to 2025 and will test if heat pump owners are willing to reduce the temperature of their homes for short periods of time for modest financial incentives to help balance energy demand. Duration and scale of temperature reductions should mean minimal disruption to daily habits and comfort in the home, the company said.
Cheryl Hiles, director of Energy Capital, part of the West Midlands Combined Authority, added: “The West Midlands needs our energy system to operate in a smarter way, to enable our citizens and businesses to benefit from the energy transition – we need to make our energy system work better for us, rather than just generating more energy to meet increasing demand. Energy consumers are key to this and National Grid are important partners in the region’s efforts to shape the energy system. This project will help us to understand and influence behaviours to provide a more flexible and effective energy system, and we look forward to seeing how the outcomes of the EQUINOX innovation project can be used to shape future consumer propositions.”