en.Wedoany.com Reported - French energy company EDF, together with Puredrive Energy, the licensee and manufacturer of Duracell Energy home battery systems, has launched a three-month trial to explore how residential batteries can help support local power grids.

The trial, scheduled from June to August 2026, will coordinate approximately 50 Duracell Energy battery systems across England, enabling them to participate in local flexibility markets. Customers will be rewarded for responding to signals from distribution system operators to help balance electricity supply and demand.

This trial comes against the backdrop of rapid growth in renewable energy generation, electric vehicles, and heat pumps, which are placing new demands on the power system and increasing the need for flexibility and resilience.

According to the National Infrastructure Commission, broader use of demand-side flexibility services could reduce distribution network investment needs by approximately 15%, saving up to £7.9 billion cumulatively by 2050.

Under this project, EDF will manage participation in local energy markets, including dispatch strategies and market operations. Puredrive Energy will handle customer recruitment, onboarding, and engagement throughout the program.

The trial is also part of Duracell Energy's development plan for future Grid Services products, allowing customers to earn additional income by using their battery systems to support local networks.

Mark Millar, CEO of Puredrive Energy, said that for decades people have viewed the grid as a facility delivering electricity to homes, but the future they envision is one where homes actively support the grid through their energy storage systems. John Grant-Arrowsmith, Senior Manager of Flexible Partnerships at EDF's Commercial and Wholesale Services division, added that distributed batteries have significant potential to provide support where it is most needed, and this trial will help demonstrate how to unlock this value at scale.

The two companies stated that this project represents an important step toward mainstreaming distributed energy services and unlocking new value for consumers and network operators.