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PowerTrade unlocks a smarter route to commercial battery savings

PowerTrade Launch

A new partnership bringing battery technology, intelligent optimisation and dynamic electricity pricing together

AlphaESS UK, Immersa and Capture Energy are helping UK businesses unlock more value from commercial battery energy storage through PowerTrade, a new electricity tariff that brings energy supply, battery optimisation and energy trading together.

The new proposition was officially launched at an event in London on 3 August 2026, following the successful integration of Capture Energy’s optimisation technology with compatible AlphaESS commercial and industrial battery systems.

Author: Lewis Carpenter

Connecting battery performance with the electricity supply

Commercial and industrial battery storage can help businesses increase solar self-consumption, reduce peak demand and use more electricity during lower-cost periods.

However, achieving the greatest possible value has traditionally required several separate elements, including an electricity supply contract, battery and solar optimisation, and potential access to wholesale energy or grid-service opportunities. Crucially, the electricity tariff, one of the largest influences on operating costs, has often remained outside the battery optimisation strategy.

PowerTrade is designed to bring these elements together.

Developed by Capture Energy for businesses with battery storage, PowerTrade combines electricity supply, battery optimisation and automated energy trading within a single offering. Capture describes it as the UK’s first smart tariff of its kind for commercial and industrial customers.

Capture AI forecasts site electricity consumption, solar generation and changing market conditions. It then determines when a compatible battery should charge, store electricity, support on-site demand or export energy to help reduce the customer’s overall electricity costs.

For suitable sites, Capture estimates that PowerTrade could deliver 30% to 50% greater savings compared with operating an AlphaESS battery and solar PV under a standard electricity tariff. Actual performance will depend on the site’s consumption profile, system design, solar generation, electricity prices and tariff eligibility.

Two PowerTrade options

PowerTrade is available through two tariff structures, allowing the approach to be matched more closely to the business's needs.

  • PowerTrade RAGDA
    PowerTrade RAGDA provides Red, Amber and Green electricity prices each day. These reflect factors including wholesale electricity prices and distribution charges.

    Capture AI uses this information alongside the site’s predicted consumption and generation to optimise when the battery charges and discharges. This gives businesses a clear tariff structure while allowing their battery to respond automatically to changing electricity costs.
  • PowerTrade One
    PowerTrade One provides a simplified route to dynamic electricity pricing. It is structured around accessing the lowest-cost wholesale periods available each day, with Capture automatically optimising the battery around those periods.

    Both options are intended to make sophisticated energy optimisation more accessible without requiring businesses to manage battery schedules or follow the wholesale electricity market themselves.

Strengthening the business case for battery storage

PowerTrade creates another way for businesses to improve the financial performance of commercial battery energy storage.

Instead of assessing battery storage solely around solar self-consumption, peak shaving or conventional time-of-use tariff optimisation, businesses can consider the battery and electricity supply as part of one coordinated energy strategy.

For installers and energy partners, this provides an opportunity to present a more complete commercial proposition. Depending on the site, PowerTrade could help:

  • Reduce electricity costs further
  • Increase the value obtained from an AlphaESS battery
  • Make better use of on-site solar generation
  • Improve forecast project returns
  • Simplify the customer’s optimisation and energy supply journey
  • Create access to eligible energy trading and flexibility opportunities

Capture may also offer an introduction fee to approved partners that support suitable new or existing customers through the PowerTrade onboarding process. Details and eligibility should be discussed with Immersa or Capture before presenting this as part of a customer proposal.

Johannes Pittgens, Co-founder of Capture Energy, commented:

"UK businesses never receive the cheapest energy rates. “Even when energy prices go negative, commerce and industry pay their fixed-rate tariffs and cannot feel the pulse of the market."

Options for businesses without battery storage

Capture Energy has also introduced two additional business tariffs:

  • PowerImport
    Gives businesses access to wholesale electricity pricing, including those without solar PV or battery storage.
  • PowerExport
    Designed for businesses with solar PV, enabling eligible exported generation to be sold at wholesale market rates.

These options allow businesses to begin changing how they purchase or export electricity and to assess whether commercial battery storage could deliver additional value.

Mark Hale, Managing Director, AlphaESS UK

"AlphaESS battery technology provides the intelligent, flexible and scalable energy storage foundation businesses need to take greater control of their energy. By storing energy when it is most cost-effective and making it available when demand and prices rise, AlphaESS systems can help reduce costs, improve resilience and support long-term energy security."

Why PowerTrade

"PowerTrade connects electricity supply, intelligent battery optimisation and energy trading within one coordinated proposition. By forecasting consumption, generation and changing market conditions, it enables compatible AlphaESS batteries to charge and discharge at the most advantageous times, helping suitable businesses unlock greater savings and strengthen project returns."

Technology, optimisation and commercial expertise

The partnership brings together AlphaESS commercial battery technology, Immersa’s C&I battery storage and project expertise, and Capture Energy’s energy supply and optimisation capabilities.

For existing AlphaESS customers, it provides a potential route to increase the value generated by an installed battery system. For businesses considering battery storage, PowerTrade can be incorporated into site assessment and financial modelling to provide a more complete view of potential savings and project returns.

Compatibility, tariff suitability and projected performance must be assessed for each individual site.

To find out more about the tariff launch, read Capture Energy’s PowerTrade announcement.

Could PowerTrade support your business?
If you have an existing AlphaESS commercial battery system or are exploring a new C&I battery storage project, contact AlphaESS UK or speak to your Immersa representative to discuss system compatibility, site eligibility and the potential commercial benefits.