The smart hot water tank that’s helping the green energy transition reaches 1MW milestone

Michael Pullan, Senior Communications Manager

07557 619446

michael.pullan@britishgas.co.uk

• Revolutionary hot water tanks react to grid needs, switching on when the wind blows
• Users access cheap off-peak energy and are incentivised to heat water when grid supply outstrips demand
• Centrica backed Mixergy (a cleantech company from Oxford University) has connected 1MW of hot water capacity which can react to grid changes within 300ms, faster than the blink of an eye

The Government’s ambition to power every home with offshore wind creates challenges for the energy industry to find ways to maintain supplies when the source of that power is difficult to predict.

On windy days, when we are creating more power than we need, increasing numbers of new energy storage technologies such as home batteries and electric vehicles are now allowing us to store the excess and discharge it at times when the wind isn’t blowing. These devices are helping deliver energy ‘flexibility’ to the grid.

Centrica’s collaboration with Mixergy shows that intelligently connecting more traditional devices in the home such as electric hot water tanks can also be used to unlock energy flexibility and help the low carbon energy transition.

The combined forces of 1,000 tanks installed in homes across the UK is now delivering 1MW of flexible power to National Grid as part of Centrica’s Virtual Power Plant, with the potential to deliver up to 2.6MW.

The Mixergy tank system combines sensory and IoT technologies to keep track of hot water levels in the tank, learning the usage habits of the household so water volumes are personalised to heat just what is needed at the right time. As well as saving over 10 per cent on hot water bills each year, this also creates capacity within each tank which can be used to absorb surplus energy from intermittent renewables such as wind and PV.

It utilises Centrica’s patented Virtual Power Plant platform which intelligently controls a range of different electrical loads, from heavy industry to domestic energy systems, automatically adjusting them to help facilitate more renewables across the globe, ensuring electricity grids continue to work reliably.

“Grid operators have suggested that as many as 23 million homes will need to install new low-carbon heating solutions by 2050. If a quarter of those included smart hot water solutions, such as Mixergy, we’d be in a position to utilise as much as 15GW of flexible power which is more than the currently installed offshore wind capacity in the UK,” said Stavros Sachinis, Head  of IOT Optimisation at Centrica, “In order to hit Net Zero, we are exploring both the demand and supply side of the transition to renewable energy with equal importance and leveraging the growth in IoT connected devices to complement the rise in renewables so we can use our electricity infrastructure as efficiently as possible.”

“Reaching the 1MW milestone is the culmination of 2 years of collaboration with Centrica,” commented Pete Armstrong, Mixergy’s CEO. “It’s really fantastic to be working with Centrica to help our energy system decarbonise whilst helping householders save on their energy bills with the Mixergy tank.”