SmartSTOR

The UK has committed itself to the universal roll out of smart meters - 53million for all homes and small

businesses with 3.6million installed so far. An enabler for half hourly billing, smart meters are seen as a

precursor to smart tariffs - British Gas launching their Free Time tariff this year, exclusively targeting smart

meter customers. Designed to better align end user electricity costs with the marginal cost of procurement,

time-variable pricing, be it time of use tariffs, or critical pricing (e.g. France's Tempo Bleu), is driven by the

increasing presence of variable renewable generation, e.g. wind, on our energy system. However, relying on

consumer behaviour change alone to respond to these price signals would fail to achieve the full potential

benefits for the network, and likely entail higher energy bills for consumers. To enable customers to adjust

their consumption to realise savings and avoid expensive peak periods, without compromising their lifestyles,

requires access to load flexibility, which is intelligently controlled, can achieved optimised outcomes for all

stakeholder. The SmartSTOR project will look to investigate the techno-economic opportunity available.