How a sports club saves over £180 a month in local flexibility markets
The Hamstreet District Sports & Leisure Association in Kent had a 20kWh InstaGen battery installed and managed by Capture Energy. Since the installation in November 2024, Capture Energy has enabled the club to save over £180 per month by charging the battery on an off-peak tariff and making it active in local flexibility markets. These markets are a new initiative which pay battery owners to help balance the UK grid.
The topic in a nutshell
The pavilion's solar panels provided some benefit but a smart battery was the key to unlocking returns.
The Pavilion earned on average £132 per month just for being available in UKPN’s local flexibility markets on top of their £50 monthly savings from charging off-peak and storing electricity from their solar panels.
Charging and discharging the battery at the right times and to the right level, and participation in flexibility markets – both were done automatically by [Capture AI].
A community club with high energy needs
The Hamstreet Sports Pavilion is a 15-acre community hub just outside Ashford, managed by the Hamstreet & District Sports & Leisure Association. It’s home to a wide range of activities and plays a key role in the local community.
Most of the Pavilion’s energy use happens in the evenings, with floodlights, fridges, ventilation, and heating systems all running after dark. Electricity bills had been rising steadily – even after the Pavilion installed 38 solar panels nearly a decade ago.
“We’ve always looked for ways to cut costs,” says Mark Taylor, the Association’s Vice Chairman. “Any money we save on utilities goes straight back into improving the facilities – whether it's the pitches, the multi-use games area, or the club spaces. It’s a win for the whole community.”
Installing solar panels wasn’t enough
The Pavilion’s 10.45kWp solar panels, installed 8 years earlier, generate about 20,000 kWh per year, but without a battery, most of that was exported to the grid at low feed-in-tariff rates.
Meanwhile, electricity consumption (~33,000 kWh/year) peaked in the evenings, when solar production was low or zero, tariff rates were the highest and need for flexibility strongest.
That mismatch left the Pavilion exposed to rising bills. That’s when they turned to Capture Energy.
Adding smartly managed battery storage
In November 2024, Capture Energy and InstaGroup installed a smart battery system at the Pavilion, retrofitting it to their existing solar panels.
“We had two batteries installed – 20 kilowatt-hours in total – and two 5kW hybrid inverters,” says Mark. “The setup gives us a lot of flexibility to manage our energy” and was designed specifically for a UK Power Networks (UKPN) local flexibility contract.
By becoming part of the UKPN's local flexibility market – the Pavilion earns revenue through:
- Availability payments: The Pavilion gets paid 59p per kW per hour just for making its battery available between 6-7pm every weekday – even if it's not used. With a 10 kW system, that’s £5.99 per weekday, simply for being ready to support the grid during the evening peak. These payments come in every month, regardless of whether the battery is called into action.
- Utilisation payments: On rare days when the grid needs extra support, the battery is discharged at 6-7pm, and the Pavilion earns an additional 59p per kW per hour. [Capture AI] ensures battery charges during off-peak hours, holds that charge through the day, and then discharges at a rate of 10 kWh between 6-7pm to fulfil the commitment.
Capture is notified a day in advance if utilisation is required. Most days, the battery remains on standby – ready to support the grid, but rarely called upon. If utilisation does occur, the battery discharges to meet the 10kW demand, before automatically recharging overnight. “I’d never even heard of local flexibility markets until Johannes from Capture explained them", Mark says.
In addition to generating income for the community hub, [Capture AI] runs the entire system automatically to keep electricity costs to an absolute minimum with no manual adjustments by:
- Charging the battery overnight on off-peak tariffs
- Storing excess solar for later use when possible
- Optimising all operations through a sleek and simple app
Earnings from flexibility payments of £130+ per month
Payments for availability and utilisation add up to over £130 per month (see Figure 1) in the winter months. That’s nearly £390 in revenue in just three months – with similar earnings expected each winter, from December to the end of February, through to 2027. This recurring income stream is helping the Pavilion offset energy costs without lifting a finger.
{{quote}}
Figure 2 shows exactly what the battery did on the utilisation day above – holding charge during the day in order to discharge at 10kWh between 18:00–19:00 to meet the utilisation commitment.
Savings from charging at off-peak rates of £50+ per month
In addition to earning flexibility revenue, the Pavilion has been saving £50–£60 per month thanks to Capture AI, which manages the tariff automatically by charging the battery overnight when electricity costs just 19.26p/kWh and utilising the stored electricity during the day when rates would otherwise be 27.36p/kWh. “That’s money we can now spend on our youth football team,” says Mark.
Total savings of over £180 per month
The Pavilion has been saving over £180 each month – combining income from grid services and reduced electricity costs. Figure 3 shows these total savings:
During months where the battery gets paid from local flexibility contracts, the system alone cuts their energy bill by around 30%. As solar production increases in spring and summer, Capture AI will help store excess generation – unlocking further savings and reducing reliance on the grid.
When asked if he would recommend Capture Energy, Mark responds, “without a shadow of a doubt, it's working brilliantly for us at the Pavilion.”
Whether you already have a battery, or would like us to find you one, we make it easy for homeowners to get involved in local flexibility markets. Choose an option below to get started today!
“We’ve received three monthly payments of around £130 from local flexibility markets so far – it’s been absolutely fantastic,”
