The challenge

Intermittent renewable availability, costly fossil-fuel back-up and wind curtailment all add cost to the energy system, while the UK needs 51-66GW of clean flexibility capacity by 2030. Octopus also recognises that wide public support for net-zero will be fragile if it leads to higher bills, making urgent market reform a top priority.

The solution

Octopus is transcending its remit as an energy provider through a strategy focused on investment, technology and decarbonisation. Its Generation arm – one of Europe’s largest specialist renewables investors – manages a 4.9GW portfolio worth £7bn, generating enough green power for 3.2 million homes every year, and is accelerating UK clean energy projects alongside global solar and onshore wind expansion.

AI-powered Kraken technology is used to scale intelligent tariffs that match demand with when energy is most abundant and cheapest, creating the UK’s largest virtual power plant. Octopus is also expanding its Cosy heat pump range and targeting 100,000 Zero Bills homes by 2030, supported by £80m invested to date in developing technologies, F1-style modular processes and training thousands of low-carbon installers. To reduce its own footprint, it has achieved SBTi verification for reaching net-zero across its value chain by FY40, including a near-term 42% reduction in total Scope 1 and 2 emissions between FY24 and FY30.

How the project works

Over the year, Octopus shifted towards becoming a grid-balancing pioneer, scaling energy-saving campaigns that reward customers for managing grid strain. Its Intelligent Octopus Go tariff matches home energy consumption and EV charging with periods of cheap renewable generation, aggregating more than 350,000 devices into a 2.3GW virtual power plant – up 184% year on year – while its Fan Club tariff offers 50% discounts when nearby turbines spin fast.

Zero Bills – described by Housing Secretary Steve Reed as the “blueprint for new homes across the country” – offers zero-emission, bill-free homes, while Tenant Power makes it financially viable for landlords to install green tech, lowering bills for social housing tenants by £206 with solar and battery, rising to £432 with a heat pump. The Snug storage heater tariff saves residents in vulnerable housing contexts £140 a year compared with standard Economy 7 tariffs.

A public Cosy Heat Pump Fleet Performance Dashboard tracks real-time user data, while the independent Octopus Centre for Net Zero publishes open-source research using anonymised data to help governments and grid operators scale a net-zero energy system. Octopus’s lobbying includes decoupling electricity and fossil-fuel prices and universal standards for smart devices (Project Mercury).

The results

Three million Octopus customers shifted 10GW of energy load out of peak demand periods during its Saving Sessions and Free Electricity campaigns – a 20% contribution to the UK’s total clean flexibility capacity requirement. £11m in bill credits was paid to 1.6 million Saving Sessions participants, and £3.6m of free power to 1.9 million Free Electricity participants.

Octopus completed one million customer installations of devices such as EV chargers, heat pumps and smart meters, became the UK’s largest installer under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme with more than 7,900 installations, and runs the UK’s largest domestic fleet, with more than 45,000 EVs, up 72% year on year. Twelve-month results for Cosy users show 94% can heat their home more cheaply than with a gas boiler, with average savings of £223 a year for Cosy tariff users and 1,939kg of carbon emissions saved per heat pump.

To support energy access and affordability, Octopus operates a £40m OctoAssist hardship fund, supported by an in-house Social Worker model; has donated 100,000 free energy-saving blankets since 2022; and has provided 700 free solar and heat pump installations to eligible households.