Octopus Agile: Half-Hourly Dynamic Electricity Tariff

Unit Rates

Agile Octopus prices are set by the EPEX Spot day-ahead wholesale electricity auction. The full set of 48 half-hourly rates for the following day is published by Octopus around 4pm each afternoon, available immediately in the Octopus app and BatteryWiz.

From 1 April 2026, all Agile import rates were reduced by a flat 3.5p/kWh (inc. VAT) following the removal of certain government levies from electricity bills. The price cap and peak uplift structure remain unchanged.

Import (Agile Octopus)

Period	Typical Rate (mid-2026)
Off-peak overnight (~12am–6am)	10–22p/kWh
Shoulder (daytime, 6am–4pm)	10–20p/kWh (cheapest midday on sunny/windy days)
Peak (4pm–7pm, incl. regional uplift)	25–40p/kWh
Negative / "Plunge Pricing" periods	Down to −10p/kWh or lower
Hard import cap	100p/kWh (inc. VAT)

Rates vary by day and by GSP region (see below). A peak uplift of approximately 10–14p/kWh (exact figure varies by region) is applied on top of the wholesale rate between 4pm and 7pm every day - making this the consistently most expensive window regardless of overall market conditions. Standing charges vary by region, typically 40–65p/day.

There are no guaranteed cheap windows comparable to a fixed ToU tariff - every half-hour is priced individually. The patterns above describe structural tendencies, not contractual guarantees.

Export (Agile Outgoing)

Metric	Value
Annual average (2025–2026)	~9–11p/kWh
Year-to-date average (2026)	~10.5p/kWh
Best evening export window (daily average)	~16–17p/kWh
Peak winter evening rates	20–40p/kWh
Minimum	0p/kWh (floor; see note below)
Standing charge	None

Export rates mirror the same wholesale movements as import, but cannot normally go below 0p/kWh - you will not usually be charged to export. Agile Outgoing requires an active Octopus import tariff on the same account, and a generation system with an MCS certificate (or equivalent Octopus certification).

GSP Regions

Agile is available in all 14 Great Britain Grid Supply Point regions. Northern Ireland (not on the GB grid) is not covered.

Code	Region
A	Eastern England
B	East Midlands
C	London
D	Merseyside and North Wales
E	West Midlands
F	North East England
G	North West England
H	Southern England
J	South East England
K	South Wales
L	South West England
M	Yorkshire
N	Southern Scotland
P	Northern Scotland

Northern regions (N, P) have a slightly higher distribution coefficient (D) in the pricing formula, so they typically pay marginally more than southern regions at equivalent wholesale prices. BatteryWiz auto-detects your region from your postcode - tap Lookup on the tariff setup screen.

What Is Octopus Agile?

Octopus Agile ("Agile Octopus") is a smart electricity import tariff where every 30-minute slot has its own price, published the afternoon before based on the wholesale day-ahead market. When grid supply outstrips demand - typically on stormy nights or sunny afternoons - prices can fall to zero or go negative, meaning Octopus pays you to consume. During high-demand evenings the opposite applies, so timing matters.

Import and Export

Agile Octopus covers electricity you buy from the grid. Agile Outgoing is a separate export tariff that pays dynamic half-hourly rates for electricity you send back. You can pair both for full two-way exposure to wholesale prices, or combine Agile import with a fixed export rate if you prefer certainty on the earnings side.

Who It Suits

Agile rewards customers who can act on daily price signals:

• Home battery owners - automatically charge during cheap or negative-price overnight slots, discharge to avoid peak rates
• EV drivers - schedule overnight charging to hit the cheapest half-hours each night
• Solar households - pair solar generation with Agile Outgoing to earn peak export rates on evenings

Without smart scheduling, the savings are easily missed - prices need to be acted on before the slot starts, not after.

Eligibility

• Smart meter required: SMETS2, or SMETS1 made by Secure™
• All 14 UK GSP regions are supported (Great Britain only; not available in Northern Ireland)
• No fixed term, no exit fees - switch away at any time
• Agile Outgoing additionally requires: an active Octopus import tariff on the same account, a generation system with an MCS certificate (or Octopus Flexi-Orb certification), and a smart meter configured for half-hourly export readings

Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Prices can go negative - you get paid to consume	Prices can spike to 100p/kWh during grid stress
Transparent wholesale pricing, no supplier markup mystery	Peak uplift added 4–7pm every day
No exit fees - full flexibility	Smart meter required
Export can reach 30–40p/kWh on peak winter evenings	Savings depend on actively shifting loads

How BatteryWiz Optimises Agile

BatteryWiz fetches your half-hourly Agile prices from the Octopus API each afternoon once they are published, then solves a mathematical optimisation problem to schedule your battery for the day ahead:

• Charge during the cheapest overnight and daytime slots - negative "Plunge" periods are prioritised automatically
• Hold or discharge through the 4–7pm peak uplift window
• Export via Agile Outgoing during the highest-value evening slots if your battery or solar has surplus to spare

Both import-only, export-only and combined import/export Agile configurations are supported. Price updates happen automatically - no manual rescheduling needed.

How BatteryWiz Connects to the Octopus API

BatteryWiz calls the Octopus Energy product API (api.octopus.energy/v1/products/) to download all 48 half-hourly import rates and 48 export rates for the next 24 hours. No Octopus account login is required - prices are fetched using the public, account-free tariff endpoint.

The full optimisation cycle:

1. Price fetch - Each afternoon, BatteryWiz detects that Octopus has published tomorrow's rates (typically after 4pm UK time) and downloads the complete next-day price series via the Octopus standard-unit-rates API, paginating through all results
2. GSP-aware pricing - Your Grid Supply Point region is auto-detected from your postcode. BatteryWiz uses the correct regional tariff code (for example E-1R-AGILE-24-10-01-C for London) to ensure the prices it downloads match your actual bill - including your area's specific peak uplift and distribution cost coefficient
3. On-device optimisation - All 48 slot prices are fed into the on-device mathematical optimisation solver as individual cost parameters. Unlike a fixed ToU tariff - where certain slots in a window shares the same price - Agile gives the solver 48 distinct cost signals per day. This lets BatteryWiz schedule, for example, 3 half-hour charges scattered across the cheapest overnight slots rather than charging uniformly through a fixed window
4. Proxy filling - If a slot's price is not yet available due to BatteryWiz's lookahead computation, BatteryWiz substitutes the same time slot from the previous day as a conservative estimate. The optimised schedule is still sent to your inverter; the proxy slot is flagged internally. The proxy prices are updated as soon as their actual price becomes available.
5. Automatic re-optimisation - If background run is enabled, BatteryWiz automatically updates the prices as new ones are available through the Octopus API and re-computes its schedules to adapt to changing load, solar and price signals. No manual refresh needed

Negative price handling: When Agile prices turn negative, the solver treats the value as income rather than cost - driving the battery to charge as much as possible during that slot, up to its physical charging rate and maximum charging rate set in BatteryWiz. The app does not clamp negative prices to zero; they flow through unchanged, maximising the benefit of Plunge Pricing events.

Schedule constraints and settings: The optimised schedule always respects the limits configured on the BatteryWiz settings page. The three most important constraints for Agile users are:

• Max charge power - the maximum rate (kW) at which BatteryWiz will charge the battery. Set this to match your battery and inverter's rated charging limit, or lower if you prefer a gentler charge cycle
• Max discharge power - the maximum rate (kW) at which BatteryWiz will discharge the battery
• Export limit - the maximum power (kW) that BatteryWiz will schedule for export to the grid. You must ensure this does not exceed the export limit agreed with your Distribution Network Operator (DNO). Your inverter installer will typically have configured a fixed hardware export cap that physically overrides any inverter command - this hardware limit takes precedence over BatteryWiz settings regardless, and is a safety requirement for grid connection. Always verify your hardware export cap with your installer before raising the export limit in BatteryWiz settings.

All 14 Great Britain GSP regions are supported. See the Rates tab for the full region list and typical price ranges by region.

Worked Example: A Typical BatteryWiz Agile Day

The figures below are illustrative, based on representative mid-2026 Agile prices. Actual prices vary daily - always check your live rates in BatteryWiz or the Octopus app.

Setup: 10 kWh battery | 90% round-trip efficiency (9 kWh usable per full cycle)

Step	Calculation	Value
Overnight charge (6 cheapest half-hour slots)	Grid draw: 10 kWh × 2p/kWh average	−20p
Usable energy stored	10 kWh × 90% round-trip efficiency	9 kWh
Peak household load covered (4pm–7pm)	1.5 kWh × 35p/kWh peak rate avoided	+52p
Rest-of-day discharge (daytime rate)	7.5 kWh × 22p/kWh avoided	+165p
Net daily saving		≈ £1.97
Annualised saving	£1.97 × 365 days	≈ £719/year

Negative price bonus: When Octopus publishes negative prices - typically a few times per month during high wind output overnight - BatteryWiz charges the battery to maximum state-of-charge during those slots. A 10 kWh draw at −5p/kWh earns a 50p credit instead of costing anything. BatteryWiz captures these events automatically as soon as prices are published, without any manual intervention.

These figures are illustrative only. Actual savings depend on your tariff rates at the time, battery size, household consumption, and daily Agile price variance. The 2p/kWh charge price represents an optimistic overnight or plunge-pricing scenario; typical overnight rates in mid-2026 are closer to 10–22p/kWh on most nights. The schedule is also subject to the max charge power, max discharge power, and export limit configured on the BatteryWiz settings page; actual charge and discharge rates will reflect those limits.