CES 2019: Kiwi Power – Balancing Demand & Supply

Q: - Can you briefly present your company please, Gavin?

Kiwi Power started in 2009 as a demand response (DSR) aggregator. Classically, peak times requiring more power have alternated with slack times where more power than necessary is available. Demand response aggregation allows demand to be spread more evenly; for example, simply by switching off non-essential items at peak times, or by re-routing excess power from its place of production to where demand is high.

Basically, we buy flexibility from large consumers of electricity and sell it to grid operators and others. It was then a natural development to widen our activity to Smart Energy in general. We now offer a wide range of services including classic DSR, battery management and local constraint services.

Q: - Tell us your story with ENGIE.

ENGIE started working with us in 2014, made a first investment in 2015, and in July this year acquired a larger interest in the company. Kiwi Power currently provides DSR and battery management services for ENGIE companies in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, with other countries in the pipeline.

ENGIE is a capable and dependable partner, with a constructive, synergetic outlook. It's an ever-closer partnership!

Q: - What does it mean for you to participate in CES?

Well, the size and reach of CES are of course incomparable, but that's not all. Alone, there is no way that Kiwi Power could have been present at CES, so we feel very privileged to have been invited along as part of the ENGIE family.

Q: - What will you showcase at CES and why?

There will be three elements:

• KOMP, our demand response platform, demonstrating the "mechanics" of demand response dispatch: basically, how we decide which sites to choose and contact to reduce consumption and/or redirect power.
• FRUIT, our IoT hardware solution, a utility information terminal that provides a direct view and control of energy consumption.
• And finally, a portfolio of cutting-edge, innovative, grant-funded projects in the UK and across Europe, with a slideshow, brochures, and case studies.

Q: - What would be the 'magic encounter' for you at CES?

A manufacturer of large electrical assets – generators, pumps, anything that produces or uses a lot of power – who wants to provide clients with demand response capabilities "out-of-the-box". Kiwi Power is in a position to enable them to do this right now.

Q: - And how do you imagine urban energy management in 2030?

Very sophisticated... and hands-free. I don't think consumers are really interested in the micro-management of their own energy consumption, which can be "subcontracted" to professionals... such as Kiwi Power!