As the UK’s fuel mix moves from fossil fuels to renewable electricity, and towards the target of decarbonising the electricity system by 2030, the increasing amounts of renewables on the grid means that businesses are going to be seeing the impact of these changes. As part of this, businesses may be considering low-carbon technologies such as electric heat pumps, batteries and on-site solar PV. For many, this is going to impact how they approach their electricity procurement and consumption.

Here, we will answer some of the key questions businesses may have about the energy transition and the changes that are coming to the electricity market, sharing our knowledge to help businesses navigate this evolving landscape. In doing so, we will highlight how businesses can take advantage of financial opportunities while still supporting the transition to a net zero, sustainable energy future.

The energy transition means removing our dependency on fossil fuels across heating, transport, and energy use in buildings and industry, and moving towards a net zero emissions future powered by low carbon electricity sources.

The UK’s fuel mix has drastically changed over the years, with an average of 51% of electricity in 2024 coming from renewable sources^1. With this change, we’ll see our energy system shifting from a linear, ‘generator-to-consumer’ model, built around planned and controllable fossil fuel-powered generation, to a more ‘decentralised’ energy landscape, with localised on-site generation and low carbon technology. This will look quite different to our current system, with different challenges and opportunities.

While the UK’s current energy system relies on fossil fuel generation, which can be turned on at any time, you can’t control when renewable sources generate electricity. This means that consumers will need to play a more active role in balancing their electricity demand with available generated supply.

In addition to this, as the uptake of low carbon technology increases, electricity demand will change. This will, again, create a new balancing challenge, and businesses will have to think not only about how much electricity they use, but also when they use it, and what this means for their long-term energy strategies.

As part of the energy transition, there will be an increased uptake of low carbon technologies. With the electrification of industries such as heat and transport, we will see a rise in the use of technologies like heat pumps, on-site solar panels and EV chargers. With this, the characteristics and profiles of electricity demand are going to change – how, when and what quantity of electricity businesses use is going to evolve.

If a business decides to electrify its fleet, for instance, and charge its vehicles overnight, its electricity consumption patterns will shift. Or, by installing solar panels on their roof, a business might consume less electricity from the grid in the middle of the day, further altering its consumption patterns. These demand changes will be even more significant on a UK-wide scale.

Consumers will need to become more flexible with their electricity usage, responding to the system to help balance the grid in times of low or high demand, supported with their use of low carbon technologies. We’ll need to maximise flexible assets, such as battery storage, heat pumps and smart grid technologies, so that electricity generation, consumption, and storage can adjust to meet changing needs without compromising reliability or affordability of supply.

By being responsive with their demand, business consumers can act as ‘good grid citizens’ to help support the UK’s changing electricity system. This means changing our mindsets to that of a ‘citizen’ instead of a ‘consumer’. If we all take a more considered and responsible approach to electricity usage, as a resource we all share, we can use renewable resources more efficiently and reduce the need for fossil fuels.

At the moment, it’s difficult to say how the energy transition will impact wholesale electricity prices, because we don’t know exactly what this new electricity landscape is going to look like as it evolves. However, more unpredictable renewable generation will likely result in greater unpredictability for electricity prices.

In fact, negative half hourly electricity prices have already become more frequent, where the perfect combination of high renewable generation and low electricity demand led to periods where prices fell into the negative, with users essentially being paid to consume electricity. With higher amounts of solar generation being added over the past few years, we’ve seen periods of concentrated electricity generation in the middle of the day, causing lower prices between 11:00am-3:00pm. This shift in electricity patterns can sometimes be challenging to understand, with unknown amounts of solar on the grid. Similarly, in a net zero future where the majority of vehicles have been electrified, if everybody charges those overnight ready for the next day, off-peak overnight prices will rise.

When businesses get their electricity supply contract, the supplier, unless you tell them otherwise, will assume that they will use the same amount of electricity, on the same profile, as they have over the last 12 months. Depending on what that business’s electricity procurement strategy looks like, they might buy their energy up to three years in advance based on the forecast that they had for their previous 12 months, and fix it at market price. If that business makes any changes, such as deciding to install EV charging points or electrify their heating, there will be a difference between their forecasted electricity usage and actual consumption.

As the electricity market evolves, in periods where businesses have over- or under-consumed, and they need to buy or sell some electricity back, they could be exposed to more unpredictable market prices.

At the moment, businesses have two choices. They can pay to mitigate this risk, using a fixed contract where their supplier takes on that market exposure of any differences between their forecasted electricity usage and what they actually consume. Or, if that business is able to be flexible and adapt their consumption in response to the system, they could take advantage of these changes to reduce or off-set costs, or at least hedge against greater risk.

1. Businesses can better understand their electricity usage and their consumption patterns – this can then be brought into a long-term holistic energy strategy. It’s important to think ahead, and any plans to integrate low carbon technologies, such as EV charging or electric heat pumps, need to be considered to understand what impact that might have on consumption profiles.
2. Businesses will need to communicate their energy strategy both internally and externally, and include everyone that may be involved, many of whom might not have had anything to do with energy before. For example, if someone who’s responsible for fleet is going to electrify their business’s vehicles, they’ll need to install charging points, but unless they communicate with the people procuring their electricity, that business could be exposed to unexpected electricity prices or fees.
3. Businesses will also have to proactively manage their electricity usage with their supplier. By speaking to their supplier in advance, rather than relying on previous consumptions forecasts until technologies are in place, businesses can build any planned changes into appropriate contract structures and potentially benefit from financial gains.
4. If businesses want to take this a step further, they could also take control of their assets on site and optimise them in line with market price signals. Bryt Energy, with our technology partners, can take information about electricity demand, generation and weather forecasts alongside our knowledge of the electricity market and, based on this, help customers adjust their electricity usage in line with system needs. Without interrupting their day-to-day operations, customers can be rewarded for these activities.

To find out more about what the energy transition might mean for your business, download our series of guides on ‘Navigating the Net Zero Energy Transition’ here. Alternatively, get in touch with our team to see how we could help your business’s sustainable energy journey.