EcoFlex for SMEs

The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted all businesses in the UK, but SMEs have been hit particularly hard. At the same time, the climate crisis is putting pressure on businesses of all sizes to become more sustainable and reduce their impact on the environment. While these two objectives may seem at odds, we believe there is an opportunity to create a proposition that uses data about carbon intensity to achieve both. Carbon intensity is the amount of CO2 that is released by generating electricity. This varies throughout the day depending on the amount of renewable energy that is being produced and the demand of users on the grid. By shifting usage to times of lower carbon intensity, electricity consumers can reduce their carbon footprint. At the same time, a Time-of-Use tariff will be studied to lower the electricity cost at the times of lower carbon intensity so that SMEs could further reduce costs The project combines data on energy consumption, carbon intensity, with time of use-based pricing and behavioural changes to create a proposition that can result in lower costs and carbon impact for SMEs. Through a combination of technology development and user research, our Phase 1 project will assess the feasibility of developing an innovative time of use proposition for SMEs, which can be tested in a real-world environment in Phase 2\.