What makes a sustainability leader? Meet cleantech innovators Kaluza

With the 2021 Sustainability Leaders Awards entry deadline approaching, this new feature series showcases the achievements of the 2020 winners and reveals their secrets to success. Up next: The winner of our Technological Innovation award: Kaluza.


What makes a sustainability leader? Meet cleantech innovators Kaluza

Pictured: Compere Julia Bradbury and edie's insight editor James Evison (left) present the Kaluza team with the award

Kaluza is an intelligent energy platform with the ability to connect and control millions of smart domestic devices to enhance the energy system with untapped flexibility. It uses AI and machine learning to optimise smart devices by analysing consumer behaviours and real-time market signals including grid supply, weather and pricing data to activate storage systems and chargers. Exercising this control at scale, Kaluza creates flexibility to help alleviate grid pressures at peak times.

Connected to the Kaluza platform, households can become their own green power stations and even make money by using smart devices such as vehicle-to-grid (V2G) and domestic energy storage by selling their stored energy to the grid. The platform empowers device users to store energy and charge their batteries during off-peak hours when electricity is at its cheapest. By intelligently managing the energy use of these systems at scale, Kaluza lowers energy bills for customers, while helping the grid balance supply and demand.

As there are numerous customer journeys for purchasing a smart device, the firm partnered with device manufacturers who sell directly to end-users and energy suppliers to create propositions around the product with tailored energy tariffs and third-party suppliers, such as ChargedEV. Kaluza is then integrated to an installed device virtually, with a notification on the app when it has been completed.

Since it launched the carbon savings feature on the app, data has shown that customers have saved more than 550kg of CO2 through smart electric vehicle charging and a further 450kg of CO2 through heat storage devices and v2g devices. By creating flexibility on the local network, network operators will be investing in fewer network upgrades, saving the energy ecosystem millions of pounds, and more renewable energy can be connected to the distributed grid, ensuring it becomes carbon-neutral.

As any smart device can be integrated into the platform, the company believe in the future other household appliances such as fridge-freezers could be connected to the platform, as well as electric vehicles and other large-scale items capable of significant flexibility.

Indeed, the firm has an example of a customer who took part in an optimised V2G project and paid effectively nothing on their energy bill in June last year because they spent £91 on electricity, but sold £115 back to the grid from energy stored on their car battery.

Recognising the constant need for innovation in the flexibility marketplace, the company has continued to improve and develop its offer and technology, including holding customer workshops to create the best new products, services and solutions to bring to market. Its app team engages regularly with customers to install the new features and its commercial team works with energy suppliers to create fresh propositions.

What edie’s judges said: “This is a great consumer-focussed project with mass appeal. It’s great to see the inclusion of small-scale opportunities for storage, which will play a key part in decarbonising energy.”


Are you our next winner?

Now entering their 14th year for 2021, the RSA-accredited Sustainability Leaders Awards are a unique opportunity to shout about the achievements you and your company have made during this challenging year. 

In a digital event on 3 February 2021, entrants will get the chance to celebrate virtually with leaders from across the sustainability, CSR and energy space. Some exciting new categories have been added for 2021 to recognise excellence across the spectrum of sustainable business. 

The 2021 Sustainability Leaders are now OPEN for entries. The extended entry deadline is Friday 6 November 2020, so don’t miss your chance to get the recognition you deserve. The Awards will then take place virtually on the night of Wednesday 3 February 2021.

— ENTER THE 2021 SUSTAINABILITY LEADERS AWARDS HERE —


edie Staff

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