Quick answer
Yes, battery trading can still add income on a wholesale-linked tariff, but the two uses can overlap. The battery may already be charging in cheap periods and discharging in expensive ones to cut the bill. Ask GridVolt to check whether GridTrade adds extra value before putting any trading figure in the proposal.
Battery trading can still pay if the customer is already on a wholesale-linked tariff like Agile, but don’t put a trading income figure into the proposal without speaking to GridVolt first.
Every GridVolt battery project uses Energy Manager to control when the battery charges and discharges. GridTrade is an extra module we can enable when we’re able to confirm that the meter qualifies and the battery has enough spare inverter power and usable capacity for separate trading.
Working out whether GridTrade adds extra income is harder on a wholesale-linked tariff. That’s because the same stored electricity cannot reduce the client’s bill and earn a separate trading payment at the same time and within the same half-hour.
If the client is already on a wholesale-linked tariff, speak to us before adding trading revenue into your proposal. Don’t try to reconcile the tariff saving and trading income yourself. Let us check the job and we’ll tell you whether GridTrade is likely to add any extra income.
Why the two uses overlap
The price clients pay for electricity changes every half-hour on a wholesale-linked business tariff. Batteries set up for this type of tariff often charge in the cheap half-hours and discharge into the building in the expensive half-hours to reduce the bill.
That can leave less spare inverter power and stored energy for GridTrade. It does not mean GridTrade cannot work, but it does mean GridVolt needs to check the overlap before you quote trading income.
A separate trading instruction may ask the battery to:
- pause or delay a planned charge, so the site imports less electricity than GridVolt forecast for that half-hour
- charge during a cheaper period, as long as the site has spare import capacity and the battery has room
- discharge into the building, so the client buys less electricity from the grid
- export stored electricity, as long as the export MPAN, export agreement and DNO limit allow it