Energy Smart Appliances Programme

The smart energy system context:

An “Energy Smart Appliance” or ESA is defined as a communications-enabled device able to respond automatically to price and/or other signals by modulating or shifting its electricity consumption. Services provided to the electricity network through this consumption modulation are known as “Demand Side Response” or DSR. Traditionally, electricity is supplied “on demand”, but DSR enables supply and demand to be balanced efficiently for both the network operator and the consumer. ESAs appropriate for DSR typically include higher-load devices with shiftable demand requirements such as heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), cold and wet appliances, battery storage and electric vehicle (EV) charge points.

The ESA programme:

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) are working with the British Standards Institution (BSI) to facilitate the uptake of safe, secure and interoperable Energy Smart Appliances (ESAs), including electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints, for the active management of demand on the electricity network, known as Demand Side Response (DSR). The ESA programme, led by BSI, supports these aims while informing a wider policy and standardisation approach to ESAs.

The programme, which launched in March 2019, covers research into smart EV chargepoint and smart domestic appliance standards convergence, development of standards for ESAs and DSR, and supporting the establishment of a testing and certification regime. The ESAs covered by the standards include cold and wet appliances; heating, ventilation and air conditioning units; battery storage; and smart EV chargepoints. The standards will be based on the 4 key principles of interoperability, data privacy, grid stability and cyber security.

Download the ESA Programme Overview brochure