Microgrids and private grid company Eclipse Power Optimize has launched the UK’s first microgrid community with no energy bills.
The Carpenters Yard microgrid, powered by energy supplier Octopus Energy through its ‘Zero Bills’ housing initiative, connects 113 energy efficient homes – developed by housebuilder gs8 – in Epping Forest in Essex.
Octopus energy worked on the project at the beginning of this year and is one of the company’s ‘Zero Bill’ housing initiatives, which launched in 2022 and several initiatives over the years, including a retrofit Zero Bills process with local government in Suffolk.
The Carpenters Yard microgrid, designed and delivered in partnership with Eclipse Power, independent interconnection provider Total Utility Connections, and Octopus Energy, consists of a behind-the-meter electricity network, a distribution substation and a 1MW community battery energy storage system (BESS), with a capacity of 2 MWh. In addition to the BESS, the homes are also equipped with a heat pump and solar panels.
The behind-the-meter network will enable the community to “get the most out of self-generated electricity”, with the guarantee that residents will not receive any energy bills for at least the first five years of ownership.
The system was powered this month and uses a real-time optimization system – which continuously optimizes for the most cost-efficient and sustainable energy mix – to balance the residential energy consumption with its own generation and storage capacities.
“Solutions like Carpenters Yard’s microgrid are critical as they combine renewable generation with electric heating and electric vehicle charging. The community benefits directly in the form of free, renewable energy, but it also contributes to much-needed demand flexibility, essential to keep the wider energy network in balance as more renewables come online,” said Alex Howison, director of development at Eclipse Power Optimise.
Howison added: “We are keen to build on the lessons learned from this project and plan to engage with the regulator and government on the current size limits for microgrid projects set out in the 2001 Class Exemptions. The ability to take this model and apply it to larger developments is something we are actively working on.”
