An Edinburgh-based energy company has generated more than £20 million in benefits for its customer as it celebrated 10 years of smart grid operations.
Flexitricity generated £12 million in direct revenue for British businesses since going live in 2008, by helping them respond to shortfalls and excesses in the nation’s energy supply.
Flexitricity has also helped large energy consumers save £11 million in network charges, by helping them reduce load and increase on-site generation when national energy demand is at its highest.
It has delivered nearly 70GWh of electricity in short-term operating reserve to the National Grid over the last decade and the firm racked up £4.3 million in turnover in the year ending March 2017, its best year of trading to date.
Flexitricity managing director, Ron Ramage, said: “The past decade has been one of tremendous growth and our ambition is to use these results as a platform for further growth.
“There are exciting times ahead for the company and our partners, as we move into the supply and energy trading side of the market – an industry first – which will provide yet another string to our bow as we develop another lucrative revenue stream for our customers.”
Flexitricity customers include small generators and business electricity users, including commercial greenhouses, warehouses, NHS hospitals, universities, banks, datacentres, and manufacturers, and the growing pool of district heating schemes which provide low cost energy to help alleviate fuel poverty.
It now employs 35 people at its Edinburgh headquarters, and is aiming for further growth after announcing it is set to move into the supply market later this year.
The company was founded in 2004 by Dr Alastair Martin, who pioneered open-market aggregated demand-side services for electricity system balancing. The company was then bought by Alpiq, a Swiss utility company, in 2014.
Dr Martin said: “With the UK’s energy network becoming increasingly reliant on renewable sources of energy, the task of keeping the system balanced is becoming increasingly complex.
“The industry is in a very different place than it was 10 years ago. Decentralisation is already making energy fairer, cheaper and more secure, and we will continue to play a major part in driving this evolution in the market.”
27 Jun 2018
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