Our trials
Local Energy Oxfordshire energy trials
Project LEO delivered some of the most ambitious, wide ranging, innovative flexible energy trials ever conducted in the UK.
The trials improved our understanding of how opportunities can be maximised and unlocked from the transition to a smarter, more flexible electricity system and how households, businesses, and communities can realise these benefits.
Place-based Trials
- Deddington and Duns Tew
- Osney Supercharge
- Eynsham smart and fair futures
- Westmills
- Springfield Meadows
- Rose Hill
Asset-based trials
- Oxford Bus Company Batteries
- Sackler Library
- Oxfordshire County Council Library
- Rose Hill battery trials
- Sandford Hydro trials
Exploring flexibility
The trials helped us understand the role flexible energy plays in balancing the network as demand for energy increases, so traditional network investment (reinforcement) can be delayed (or even avoided).
In our trials, we tested:
- Renewable energy generators – such as wind, hydro and solar power.
- Storage Batteries – including batteries in electric vehicles (EVs), which as well as consuming energy can also return their stored energy to the network if it is needed to help to balance it.
- Demand side response (DSR) – individuals or business reducing or shifting their electricity usage when asked to by a network operator, usually at times of peak demand on the local network when everyone else is consuming higher amounts of energy. Our trials are focusing on businesses with higher energy consumption as well as smaller business and domestic aggregated DSR.
Click on the boxes above to read more about our trials.