Octopus Energy has revealed that users of its offshore wind tariff, based in Lincolnshire, have saved up to £400 in the offer’s first year.
The ‘Fan Club’ tariff, offered to Octopus customers overlooking offshore wind turbines between Grimsby and Skegness, grants a 50% discount on electricity bills if customers use energy at times when the turbines are generating power.
The utility’s app notifies customers when local offshore wind turbines are active and rewards them for scheduling energy-intensive activities for these periods. In the year since the tariff launched, customers have saved an average of £200 by engaging with the scheme, with the top 5% involved saving almost £400 yearly.
Although this is Octopus Energy’s first-ever offshore wind tariff, the utility offers the Fan Club tariff in three onshore wind locations: Market Weighton and Halifax in Yorkshire and Caerphilly in Wales.
According to the company, since it launched the tariff, it has received over 36,000 requests for the scheme to run in various other communities across the UK.
The UK currently has about 1,4GW installed offshore wind capacity, which it is set to quadruple by 2030. However, grid constraints mean that when winds are high the electricity system operator pays wind power plants to come offline in order to prevent oversupply.
Although battery energy storage systems (BESS) offer one alternative, storing the excess energy and preventing curtailment, the National Energy System Operator (NESO) also emphasises the importance of demand-side flexibility. Competitive tariffs like the Fan Club mean that customers can save on bills while supporting the electricity grid.
Octopus has stakes in three offshore wind farms in the UK, including Lincs, Hornsea One and Walney Extension.
CEO of Octopus Energy Generation, the generator arm of the electricity provider, Zoisa North-Bond, said the success of the tariff “shows us what the future of energy can look like”.
North-Bond added: “By incentivising people to use energy when wind power is abundant locally, we can put money back into customers’ pockets. Our offshore ‘Fan Club’ is proof that clean, green energy isn’t just good for the planet, it’s good for your bills too.”
Flexible power for a clean energy system
Trade group the Association for Decentralised Energy (ADE) recently published a report ‘Demanding More’, that stated a lack of understanding of demand side flexibility is a threat to net zero.
ADE agrees with NESO’s Clean Power 2030 (CP30) report that states the clean energy target will only be achieved with “bold action and sustained momentum” and that demand side flexibility should be “considered on the same level as areas such as network build and new technology investment”.
Sarah Honan, head of policy at the ADE, added: “NESO must use its immense power and influence over national infrastructure to rewrite this narrative, and ensure that change is executed, so that Clean Power by 2030 becomes a true possibility.”
