Minister welcomes npower and RLtec’s trial of smart fridges
New technology could reduce UK’s CO2 emissions by 2 million tonnes a year
npower one of Britain’s leading energy suppliers is working with RLtec, the clean technology company, to trial Dynamic Demand, a new technology that helps maintain the balance between supply and demand across the national electricity grid, in homes across the UK.
Appliances fitted with Dynamic Demand technology automatically modify their power consumption in response to second-by-second changes in the balance between supply and demand on the grid - without affecting the fridge’s performance. This means that the amount of carbon emitting generating capacity used to maintain that balance can be dramatically reduced. The technology has the potential to create a ‘virtual’ power station and if widely used in the UK could eliminate the need for these carbon emitting balancing stations and save 2million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.
In a first for British homes, the wide ranging trial will demonstrate the potential of Dynamic Demand for reducing the nation’s carbon emissions. The trial is the first Demonstration Action to be approved by Ofgem under the CERT (Carbon Emissions Reduction Target) legislation and will contribute towards npower’s carbon reduction obligations.
Minister for Energy Innovation, Lord Hunt, said:
“Dynamic demand is an exciting technology with the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase the grid’s capacity to absorb wind energy – key elements of the government’s energy strategy for renewables.
“The report shows the potential of dynamic demand and I welcome the demonstration project led by npower and RLtec. The trial will help us gain a better understanding of how dynamic demand can work to reduce our use of fossil fuels. If successful it could help pave the way for the uptake of this technology nation-wide, which could result in significant carbon savings of around 2million tonnes Co2 a year or higher.”
Bob Jackson, carbon savings manager at npower said:
"Dynamic demand has the potential to significantly reduce the amount of carbon emissions - so these trials with domestic customers are very important and we hope they will show the impact that this technology could have in the UK and around the world."
Andrew Howe from RLtec explains: “There is a clear and pressing need to reduce our carbon emissions, and we believe that Dynamic Demand has a key role to play in our efforts to re-think the way we generate, use and consume energy. Our analysis shows that more than two-thirds of the UK’s balancing capacity comes from carbon emitting sources. Dynamic Demand helps reduce that carbon-intensive balancing requirement, with no loss of performance from the appliances in which it is fitted, and with no action needed on the part of the consumer. We are delighted that npower has seen its potential, and that it can be used to meet its CERT targets.”
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For further information please contact the npower press office on 0845 070 2807
RLtec’s technology has undergone rigorous laboratory testing and, through the partnership with npower, will be trialled in a number of stages. In the first phase, 300 fridges fitted with RLtec’s technology will be distributed to consumers so that rigorous analysis of how the technology works in appliances in everyday use can be carried out. Following the initial roll-out, a total of 3,000 fridges and freezers of different types and models will be deployed so that the carbon savings from Dynamic Demand can be assessed and calculated against a full range of variables.