(Reuters) – Energy supplier SSE plc, Perth, Scotland, has launched a smart grid, aggregation and trading platform enabling large energy users to make thousands of pounds from balancing supply and demand.
SSE Enhance will allow users such as manufacturers, building managers and local councils to get paid for helping balance supply and demand across their local network and Britain’s electricity network, the company said on Friday.
Companies, public sector organizations and other customers can receive payments and make savings for reducing their electricity demand during peak periods, or they can reduce their own peaks through optimizing local demand, SSE said.
Customers could also be paid to feed excess electricity from their own assets – such as combined heat and power units, solar panels, wind turbines or energy storage batteries – into the grid to help cope with spikes in demand, it added.
SSE Enhance was built using ANM Strata, an energy resources management system developed by Glasgow-based energy software specialist Smarter Grid Solutions (SGS), whose programmes are already used by companies including UK Power Networks and Southern California Edison (SCE) to manage their energy systems.
Reporting by Nina Chestney; Editing by David Holmes