BWCE are excited to be embarking on a partnership with Stemy Energy, a company set up, as a spin off from Comillas University in Madrid and MIT, to promote a more sustainable energy system. Stemy have created a smart app, funded by Comillas and MIT, to enable householders to manage their electricity consumption in order to reduce both carbon emissions and costs. Additionally, the app has the potential to enable householders to generate income from helping the grid to manage demand, especially as more renewable generation is installed.

Beyond its use in individual households, we are particularly enthusiastic about the longer term potential of this app to support the development of other community energy initiatives, such as peer-to-peer trading of locally generated renewable electricity, empowering villages and other small neighbourhoods to become more energy resilient.

We will be working with Stemy to roll out a programme of projects under the banner of Flex Community. For our first pilot project, starting later this year, we will be looking for volunteers in B&NES to test the smart app in their home to explore how it can effectively manage electric hot water heating. More information coming soon!