Alternative Energy Markets Innovation Programme: projects

The Alternative Energy Markets Innovation Programme ran from 2023 to 2025. See details of the programme here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alternative-energy-markets-innovation-programme . Programme structure The programme consisted of 2 phases: Phase 1 – supported the design of innovative tariffs, products or services (demand side flexibility propositions) under alternative energy market scenarios of a future energy system. See details of the funded projects from this phase: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alternative-energy-markets-innovation-programme-projects/alternative-energy-markets-innovation-programme-phase-1-projects Phase 2 – delivered real world demonstrators which tested demand side flexibility propositions developed in Phase 1 in a real-world setting, demonstrating the impact of propositions and potential benefit to the electricity grid and consumers under various scenarios. See details of the funded projects from this phase: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alternative-energy-markets-innovation-programme-projects/alternative-energy-markets-innovation-programme-phase-2-projects Programme Completion The Alternative Energy Markets Innovation Programme concluded in 2025. The programme funded four projects to design innovative tariffs, products or services, and supported three projects through to demonstration and testing. Final project reports FLASH: Alternative Energy Markets Phase 2 Chameleon Alternative Market for Energy Assessment Phase 2 Final Report Background The Alternative Energy Markets Innovation Programme supported the design and demonstration of domestic demand side flexibility propositions (tariffs, products and services) in a future energy system where electricity market arrangements may look different from today. It demonstrated the value that innovative domestic demand side response propositions may bring to both the consumer and the system, and contributed to the evidence base for how the domestic flexibility market can be grown to inform future policy and regulatory decisions; supporting the delivery of a smart and flexible energy system. This programme was part of the Flexibility Innovation Programme which sought to enable large-scale widespread electricity system flexibility through smart, flexible, secure, and accessible technologies and markets. The Flexibility Innovation Programme funded innovation across a range of key smart energy applications, and sat within the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio ( NZIP ). Chameleon Alternative Market for Energy Assessment ( CAMEA ) Participant organisations: Chameleon Technology Evergreen Energy Green Energy (UK) Ltd Solo Energy Limited Energy Systems Catapult Project costs: £497,387.80 Project summary: Energy technology SMEs , Chameleon Technology and Evergreen Energy, propose to leverage their experience in consumer engagement, home energy optimisation and energy smart appliances to design, evaluate and iterate a number of energy supplier agnostic flexibility propositions and test these against potential future energy market scenarios. They will then define a large-scale trial to demonstrate their proposal in both simulated (via the living lab) and real-world environment in customer homes in Phase 2. The consortium also includes energy supplier Green Energy UK, pioneers of time of use tariffs in the UK; SMS plc, whose Flexigrid platform is already being used to aggregate domestic loads to offer flexibility services, energy market and modelling experts Cornwall Insight and the Energy Systems Catapult Chameleon Alternative Market for Energy Assessment ( CAMEA ): final report Designing alternative energy market options through novel simulations Participant organisations: Energy Systems Catapult OVO Energy Ltd Project costs: £499,599.36 Project summary: Energy Systems Catapult (ESC) is working with OVO Energy and CEPA, bringing together a team of experts across policy, consumer research and energy modelling to design innovative domestic flexibility propositions under potential alternative energy markets. The project will demonstrate the value that domestic demand side response solutions can bring to consumers and proposition providers, in enabling a smart and flexible future energy system. It will consider a breadth of propositions, combining low carbon distributed energy assets and other smart energy innovations, to a range of consumer segments building in tariffs, products and services. These will be assessed against consumer needs, commercial and technical feasibility in combination with electricity system/market modelling to understand their contribution and value to delivering flexibility net benefits to the energy system. Flexibility Assets and Smart Homes ( FLASH ) Participant organisations: EDF Energy R&D UK Centre Ltd EDF Energy Customers Limited LCP Delta Landis+Gyr Ltd Project costs: £375,881.02 Project summary: Project FLASH (FLexibility Assets and Smart Homes) is a collaborative project between electricity generator and supplier, EDF, smart energy system manufacturer, Landis+Gyr and research consultancy LCP Delta to develop energy storage products and innovative tariffs with the ambition to support customers to reduce their energy bills, whilst significantly championing net zero by supporting customers in reducing their environmental impact. Project FLASH aims to do this through supporting households in reducing their peak energy demand through assessing the value that new low carbon technologies, storage product bundles and bespoke tariffs can provide to consumers at a domestic level, thereby helping customers to lower their energy bills whilst at the same time reducing pressure on the grid. Structured consumer focus groups will be held throughout the feasibility study to capture key insights and perspectives and to inform future propositions that will be aimed at providing significant value to consumers at a micro-level, whilst supporting grid infrastructure at a macro-level. Flexibility Assets and Smart Homes ( FLASH ): final report Intelligent Smart Energy Engine ( ISEE ) Participant organisations: Solo Energy Limited Engage Consulting Ltd Evergreen Energy MyUtilityGenius Commercial Ltd Samsung Electronics UK Hugo Technologies Ltd Rebel Energy Supply Limited Shell Energy Retail Limited Project costs: £497,171.62 Project summary: Led by SMS PLC (Solo Energy), supported by its partners MyUtilityGenius, Engage Consulting, Samsung Research UK, Evergreen Energy, Shell Energy Retail and Rebel Energy, project ISEE has been formed to assess the impact of 5 alternative energy market scenarios. The project proposes to build a tariff proposition engine based on the principles of an energy comparison engine: an engine that uses half hourly data from the smart meters of consumers combines this with details on any energy smart appliances ( ESAs ) in or planned to be in the premises optimises a tariff structure that solves for best cost for consumer whilst utilising intelligent systems to control the ESAs The Intelligent Smart Energy Engine ( ISEE ) designs a tariff suitable for the consumers profile, ESAs and associated flexibility of such assets to align with the tariff, optimised for the consumers benefit. This tariff and flexibility design will be made available to energy suppliers to adopt and supply a group of suitable consumers. CAMEAP2 ­ Chameleon Alternative Market for Energy Assessment Lead partner : Chameleon Partners : Passiv, Evergreen Energy, Green Energy UK, Energy Systems Catapult, Solo Energy/SMS Grant value : £3,736,279.50 Project summary : Chameleon Technology and their experienced CAMEA consortium will deliver a large-scale real-world trial with a range of technologies and customer archetypes to demonstrate the impact of innovative flexibility propositions and future energy market scenarios on increasing DSR flexibility. CAMEAP2’s primary proposition, offered to the trial group, is based on a HEMS as a service model paired with a bespoke 100Green tariff, offering fixed price bundles for heat (from a heat pump) and EV miles. This will be tested against hypothetical future energy scenarios and benchmarked against a control group to determine the impact of both propositions and scenarios in detail, and to determine the value created by the scenarios. The trial group will receive a HEMS solution which pairs with their assets, alongside an energy insights app which will support wider reduction of electricity use. Chameleon is the lead partner, and they provide the HEMS and user interface, lead the creation of the trial environment and recruitment of participants and trial delivery. The consortium includes energy supplier 100Green UK, pioneers of time of use tariffs in the UK; Solo Energy (SMS plc), whose Flexigrid platform is already being used to aggregate domestic loads to offer flexibility services, and Energy Systems Catapult who will support trial delivery and understanding of consumer behaviour. Homely and Passiv provide heat pump optimisation technology and interfacing to the HEMS . Energy market and modelling experts Cornwall Insight are subcontractors providing independent analysis and support to deliver the trial scenarios to create maximum value. ISEE Retrofit: A smarter transition to Net Zero Lead partner : Metis Energy Partners : My Utility Genius, Oxfordshire County Council, Eliq AB, Rebel Energy, Engage Consulting, Samsung Grant value : £5,298,209.26 Project summary : Led by Metis Energy/SMS PLC in collaboration with My Utility Genius, Engage Consulting, Oxfordshire County Council, Eliq, Samsung and Rebel Energy, aims to assess the impact of changing the way Great Britain prices Energy. Engaging with residents in Oxfordshire, via a new Energy Insights App, consumers will be educated on their energy consumption and have the option to opt into a trial, with a tariff based on a hypothetical future energy scenario. This project aims to retrofit properties, and assess tariff uptake, behavioural change impact, and Energy Smart Appliance ( ESA ) subscription dynamics across 3 scenarios. Users will be presented with options to start their energy transition via an Energy Insights App in collaboration with Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) engaging residents and exploring impacts of future energy scenarios. Groups will be offered tailored propositions based on energy data and profile of the building, such as PV , battery and heat pump installations, with additional flexibility services offer customers who have energy smart appliances ( ESAs ) installed further benefitting from savings as well as proving the value of flexibility for GB’s energy system. The ISEE project expects significant energy consumption reduction and net spend reduction across groups, particularly with ESA integration. To overcome the challenge of consumer adoption, ISEE will introduce a subscription-based model for ESAs , eliminating upfront costs. This is the first example of an energy supplier agnostic approach, using the Smart Meter Ecosystem as the foundation to engage the population in energy, from an impartial position. Using data to drive options and recommendations to embark on the energy transition. By understanding consumer behaviour and the effectiveness of different propositions, across the energy scenarios, ISEE will contribute valuable insights to achieving net zero targets and accelerating the adoption of smart energy solutions. FLASH (FLexibility Assets and Smart Homes) Lead partner : EDF R&D UK Partners : EDF Customers, Brighton and Hove City Council, Indra Renewables, Loughborough University, University of Sheffield Grant value : £1,321,279.78 Project summary : Project Flash follows from the AEM Phase 1 feasibility study which designed and tested innovative flexibility propositions to drive residential flexibility in a future energy market. As part of Phase 2, 5 propositions will be tested to demonstrate their impact on consumers and the electricity grid based on hypothetical 2030 conditions. With a large customer base, EDF will target and recruit a range of consumer segments across the UK. This will ensure a wide reach of offers and resulting feedback across the socio-economic spectrum. Once onboarded, participants will benefit from innovative tariffs offering various benefits such as dynamic time of use, cost-saving periods, carbon free periods and hourly rates to track markets prices. Households will be testing batteries, solar PV , heat pumps, EVs and vehicle to home chargers to unlock self-sufficiency and the ability to maximise flexibility in the home. In addition, consumers will trial a digital platform that will ease their ability to benefit from price signals that indicate when to shift demand, as well as opportunities to intelligently optimise their own energy generation and storage. Leaving consumers in control of their consumption patterns while providing cost savings and resilience to the grid. Data will be generated, collected and analysed throughout the trial to quantify the flexibility value of the tested propositions on consumer bills and the energy system. Similarly, regular consumer interviews will be conducted to gain insights on consumers views and identify drivers and barriers to consumer uptake, adoption and response. The project brings together an interdisciplinary consortium of Partners. EDF, an energy generator and supplier, Indra, a manufacturer and developer of smart energy systems, Brighton and Hove City Council, a Local Authority with their subcontractor Everwarm, and academia Loughborough University and the University of Sheffield.