E.ON - Building the virtual power station

A case study in how to build a virtual power station using agile ways of working.

E.ON UK is a British energy company and part of the global energy firm E.ON (which is headquartered in Essen, Germany and has around 43,000 employees worldwide). It is the second largest electricity and gas supplier in the UK and one of the Big Six energy suppliers.

Background

E.ON wanted to develop a solution to enable their virtual power station strategy. This involved creating a huge network where demand can be managed, and electricity used during off-peak times. By scheduling electricity consumption when the network is quieter, the concept was to save their corporate customers money by managing and scheduling the demand at times that were more convenient. If this could be scheduled in advance then the grid operator could offer preferential spot pricing in advance of consumption.

They had developed a proof of concept (POC) and demonstrated that their business case was feasible, and they now wished to develop an MVP solution in order to enter the pilot phase of the project.

With a co-located team comprising of business, academic partners, manufacturing partners and colleagues from IT, the team was able to produce a proof of concept within 6-weeks. This was done by confirming the Product Owner, collation of requirements through workshops, refinement of features and the definition of user stories. This was then prioritised into an MVP definition of the potential solution.

The team was then able to go back to the E.ON board to request more funding to commence the pilot, which was approved and the solution piloted across a number of sites within the UK.

The project was commercialised within E.ON in Sweden, and the team also won the ‘RITA’ RealIT award (https://www.real-it-awards.com) for IT innovation recognising the achievements of the cross functional team.

Services Utilised

• Agile coaching

• Sprint planning

• Agile training

• Team facilitation