How Energy Volatility Can Boost Your Bottom Line

Ten years ago, the idea of getting paid to use electricity might have sounded like a futuristic fantasy. Fast forward to 2025, and it’s fast becoming the new normal. For businesses and organisations across the UK, this seismic shift in the energy market isn’t just a curious anomaly, it’s a real, strategic opportunity.

What Is Negative Pricing and Why Is It Happening?

Negative electricity pricing, which is where generators actually pay consumers to use power, used to be rare. In 2019, it happened on just one day in the UK. This year? We’ve already seen 20 days with negative wholesale electricity prices and it’s only June.

So, what’s behind this change?

It comes down to a mismatch between renewable energy generation and grid demand. When the sun is shining or the wind is blowing and there’s low electricity demand (often on weekends or holidays), the system ends up with more power than it can use. To rebalance, prices drop and sometimes fall below zero.

This isn’t a failure of the system. In fact, it’s a sign of progress. The UK’s grid is becoming cleaner, more decentralised and more dynamic. But it also needs to become more flexible.

Why Flexibility Is the Future

The ability to respond quickly to energy market signals, like negative pricing, is becoming an essential capability for modern energy users. Instead of being at the mercy of price spikes or power surpluses, agile businesses can actively benefit from them.

Enter battery storage.

Batteries are the connective tissue between intermittent renewable generation and the steady, on-demand power businesses need. They don’t just help cope with volatility, they thrive on it.

How Batteries Generate Value

Battery systems can earn income and reduce costs in two key ways:

1. Arbitrage

This is the practice of buying low and selling high, only with energy instead of stocks. When prices fall (or go negative), batteries charge up. When prices rise later in the day, those same batteries discharge, selling power back into the system or avoiding high import costs.

Negative prices aren’t a problem, they’re a discount. In this context, you’re literally paid to store energy and then paid again when you use or sell it later.

2. Grid Services

Batteries also participate in services that support the stability of the electricity grid. This includes things like:

• Frequency response – helping to keep grid frequency within a safe range.

  
  

• Capacity support – being available to discharge when the grid needs backup.

  
  

• Balancing services – responding to sudden changes in supply or demand.

These services are critical to National Grid and are rewarded with consistent, often generous payments.

Together, these revenue streams make battery storage systems a smart investment for many organisations.

Real-World Example

Let’s look at a practical example.

Imagine a UK food manufacturing site with a steady 1.5 MW baseload. Over a weekend in May 2025, wholesale prices dropped below zero for over 14 hours, reaching as low as –£15/MWh.

Here’s how that factory could benefit:

• Energy consumed in 14 hours: 21 MWh

  
  

• Value gained from negative pricing: £315 (you’re being paid to use power)

  
  

• With a 1 MW battery: If charged during that window and discharged later during peak hours, it could save or earn an additional £100/hour.

In total, that single weekend could deliver more than 20% of the site’s monthly electricity savings without impacting operations at all.

The only requirement? Readiness.

This Isn’t Just for Heavy Industry

While manufacturing sites are a natural fit for this kind of strategy, they’re far from the only beneficiaries. Virtually any energy-intensive organisation can benefit, including:

Commercial Buildings

• Supermarkets

• Data centres

• Cold storage facilities

• Office complexes

  
  

Public Sector Sites

• Schools and universities

• NHS trusts and hospitals

• Local council buildings

  
  

Community Energy Groups

• Renewable cooperatives

• Local generation with flexible loads

• Community-owned battery projects

  
  

In each case, the combination of predictable consumption, on-site generation, and/or storage potential creates a pathway to real economic and environmental value.

A Trend That’s Here to Stay

Even discounting the outlier of 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown, negative pricing is becoming more frequent and predictable. In 2024, there were 32 days with negative prices - the most on record. This year is already on track to beat it.

The causes are clear:

• Surging renewables: Wind and solar are making up an ever-larger share of the UK’s generation mix. While low-carbon, they’re also intermittent and sometimes oversupply the grid.

  
  

• Inflexible infrastructure: The grid hasn’t yet caught up. When it can’t absorb all the generation, prices plunge, sometimes below zero.

  
  

• Lack of flexible demand: Until more consumers can absorb or store surplus energy, we’ll continue to see these imbalances.

But with every challenge comes an opportunity.

The Rise of the Active Energy Consumer

The UK is shifting from a world of passive energy use to one of active energy participation. Businesses that are set up to respond (even occasionally) can save thousands and generate entirely new income streams.

This is a mindset shift as much as a technological one.

It means seeing energy not just as a utility cost but as a strategic input, one that can be managed, optimised and monetised. It means being ready to act when market signals flash green.

How VEST Can Help

At VEST, we work with organisations across the UK to design and deploy energy strategies that turn volatility into value. We specialise in:

• Flexible energy planning

  
  

• Battery deployment and integration

  
  

• Smart controls and optimisation

  
  

• Revenue stacking from market and grid services

  
  

• Carbon reduction and net zero alignment

Whether you’re a manufacturer trying to cut costs, a council building resilience, or a community project aiming for energy independence, we can help you unlock the full value of flexibility.

Final Thoughts

Energy volatility isn’t going away, but that’s not a bad thing. For forward-thinking organisations, it’s a feature, not a flaw.

Being paid to use electricity may have sounded like science fiction a decade ago. But today, it’s just smart business.

And tomorrow? It could be your competitive edge.

Interested in turning your energy strategy into a revenue stream? The opportunity is already here, it’s just a matter of whether you’re ready to take it. Get in touch today.