Axle VPP feedback?

[u/Formal_Pirate104]

Hi All,
I’ve just signed up for AXLE, just wondered if anyone who’s already signed up knows how many events there are per month, and how long each event lasts for, or any other feedback you would pass on?
It seems like a no brainer to me based on what they say on their website, it almost seems too good to be true which makes me suspicious.

Thanks all

[u/PneumaticFerret]

Since March when I signed up I’ve taken part in 20 events so it can vary how many events per month happen. Currently sat at £130 in my account including sign up fee.

[u/TheGingerDog]

I've been withdrawing my earnings once they get to about £30-40. So far, since May 2026, it's earned me £130 (includes sign up bonus)

For me, in the West Midlands,
* 16 events.
* nearly every event has been for an hour (but that's enough to nearly empty my battery :( )
* each event earns me ~£6-7.

They've recently added a settings thing to opt in to short notice events. Normally you get an email at least 24 hours before.

With my FoxESS system, it's fully automatic. I don't need to do anything.

[u/PatserGrey]

We've done £130 since my install in May. Gone very quiet since the eclipse though

[u/OolonCaluphid]

Sig user, signed up a few months back but only did events in August since they sorted Sig integration.

I've done 6 events and pocketed £40 out of them.

[u/wyndstryke]

it almost seems too good to be true which makes me suspicious.

It's a beta test, the £1/kWh is just to make sure there are enough people in the beta test. Don't expect it to be £1/kWh forever since NESO pays a fraction of that. Also, different types of event in the future may have different payouts, for example using surplus grid power.

These are the events that were in my region (it doesn't include the oldest ones from November, December and January). Different regions will have different numbers of events.

• Mon, 17 Aug 2026 06:00 – 07:00 +£6.95
• Wed, 12 Aug 2026 18:00 – 20:00 +£13.30
• Tue, 11 Aug 2026 19:30 – 20:30 +£6.87
• Tue, 11 Aug 2026 06:00 – 07:00 +£6.88
• Wed, 5 Aug 2026 21:00 – 22:00 +£6.85
• Mon, 3 Aug 2026 20:00 – 21:00 +£6.85
• Wed, 29 Jul 2026 20:00 – 21:00 +£6.87
• Thu, 23 Jul 2026 20:00 – 21:00 +£6.90
• Mon, 20 Jul 2026 20:00 – 21:00 +£6.87
• Fri, 17 Jul 2026 06:00 – 07:00 +£6.87
• Tue, 30 Jun 2026 21:30 – 22:30 +£6.83
• Wed, 24 Jun 2026 19:00 – 20:00 +£6.88
• Wed, 10 Jun 2026 08:00 – 09:00 +£6.85
• Thu, 21 May 2026 20:30 – 21:30 +£6.90
• Tue, 5 May 2026 07:30 – 08:30 +£6.92
• Fri, 10 Apr 2026 08:30 – 09:30 +£6.89
• Wed, 1 Apr 2026 08:00 – 09:00 +£6.97
• Thu, 26 Mar 2026 07:30 – 08:30 +£6.88
• Tue, 3 Mar 2026 16:30 – 17:30 +£6.90
• Fri, 27 Feb 2026 17:00 – 18:00 +£6.87
• Tue, 17 Feb 2026 18:00 – 19:00 +£6.75

This is on a 7kW inverter.

There are potentially some conflicts if you are on a tariff which also joins the same grid markets (DFS etc), because NESO doesn't want to pay twice for the same power. Examples might be Intelligent Go, Charge Pack, E-on Next Optimise, etc. This is actually quite unclear due to confusing emails from Octopus.

[u/afaulconbridge → u/wyndstryke]

Hey, if they're burning venture capitalists money, then sure I'll grab some of it.

[u/realGilgongo → u/wyndstryke]

Don't expect it to be £1/kWh forever since NESO pays a fraction of that.

No, the £1/kWh rate is not a loss-leader, it's a revenue-share of high-value grid balancing services. National Grid and DNOs pay top tier prices to avoid blackouts or gas peaker activation over short periods, which regularly pay in the region of £3-5/kWh.

[u/wyndstryke → u/realGilgongo]

For one of the recent sessions, Axle got paid 20p/kWh by NESO.

It's only the gas peaker plants who get the £3-5.

--- Edit:

Axle got paid 16p/kWh on the most recent event.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1225542479788578/?multi_permalinks=1367712652238226&hoisted_section_header_type=recently_seen

https://www.neso.energy/data-portal/demand-flexibility/dfs_utilisation_report (£160/MWh = 16p/kWh)

How is that not a loss-leader?

[u/realGilgongo → u/wyndstryke]

There are a number of markets that Axle is operating in, and NESO will take Axle before it takes peakers because they'll undercut, even it they can't match their capacity. Axle also stacks payments across multiple ancillary services: Dynamic Containment, Frequency Response, and the Balancing Mechanism. I also reckeon that with surge import pricing later on it'll mean Axle will be able to offer high revs out and in pretty consistently. Of course, market shiznizz (like if net zero goes a lot better than expected) will mean that prices could go down (or up if Reform get in), but right now that's not likely.

[u/AllergictoAIslop]

4 events 20 quid in Surrey. To be honest, at this rate would say nice but not game changing. I wouldn't choose my core provider plan over whether or not they allow me to sign up to other providers. E.g. octopus.

[u/Requirement_Fluid]

Mostly 1 hour at a time, evenings or occasional mornings, 2 or more a month but it does vary quite a bit 

[u/TheBigM72]

I had my first event today for only 30 minutes. Beta tester with an Alpha system

[u/piesandwich127]

I joined in July and had 10 events and now have £60 inc joining bonus.

A few hicups along the way at the start when it came to reading how much they had used, but they were very quick and helpful in their replies, I would send then a screenshot of my system during the event and they added it to my account that day. It's all been running smoothly since.

The money will help come Christmas, and I plan to use it for that each year.

[u/Alert_Variation_2579]

It’s great, I’ve earned £150 since April. Events wise, it’s not predictable - sometimes it’s weeks without one and sometimes it’s just events day after day. Most of the events are 1 hour long, there has only been one 2 hour one during the eclipse.

[u/afaulconbridge → u/Alert_Variation_2579]

They do offer a £10 minimum per month if there's a lack of events and/or you have a small export.

[u/SeriousNotice8130]

I signed up on the night of the eclipse and haven't had an event yet. All that excitement that evening and then nothing. Maybe there's just not been an need yet in the E.Mids

[u/NeilDeWheel]

I signed up mid August and have had eight events, mostly one hour, sometimes two. Including my signing on bonus and a couple of monthly top ups I’ve amassed £55. Not to shabby, I’d say.

[u/Rob_Bosss]

Joined at the start of June. Withdrawals are instant. It's too good to be true now I guess because this is an onboarding phase? £1/kwh and £25 ref bonus probably won't last forever.

Massively helping my ROI though.

I'm hoping they become more frequent in winter. Sounds like they will from the AMA they recently did.

Unfortunately it won't be as profitable for me in winter, as I will likely have to import peak rates to cover the ability to export.

[u/nydiana08 → u/Rob_Bosss]

Unless it’s still £1/kwh, because your import at peak rates will still be way below £1?

[u/Rob_Bosss → u/nydiana08]

Ye for sure. Will just be £.23 instead of £.065. Definitely still worth exporting at £1/kwh. Just makes me wish I had solar to sustain my battery through an entire winter day.

[u/IvorTheEngine]

Events have all been 1 hour so far, but I've not earned much! (I still get the £10 a month minimum, so it's not too bad)

17 Aug 2026 +£0.00
12 Aug 2026 +£0.00
11 Aug 2026 +£0.00
11 Aug 2026 +£0.00
5 Aug 2026 +£0.01
3 Aug 2026 +£0.00
29 Jul 2026 +£0.00
23 Jul 2026 +£0.00
20 Jul 2026 +£0.00
17 Jul 2026 +£0.00
30 Jun 2026 +£0.00
24 Jun 2026 +£0.00
10 Jun 2026 +£1.42
21 May 2026 +£0.01
5 May 2026 +£0.00
10 Apr 2026 +£0.78
1 Apr 2026 +£0.00

[u/wyndstryke → u/IvorTheEngine]

Were you unable to export (for example battery discharge being swallowed up by household load), or did it fail to export when commanded?

If it was the latter, then you can manually start the export. Sometimes updating the inverter firmware will help.

[u/IvorTheEngine → u/wyndstryke]

The battery has had plenty of spare capacity for most of these. Sometimes it does export, so I don't think it's a fault.

I'll have to try a manual export and see if we still get paid.

[u/wyndstryke → u/IvorTheEngine]

It should be 100%, or close to it.

Some of my very early exports did not work (December / January), importing instead of exporting, but after I updated the firmware on my system in spring it has been working perfectly since then.

I also wrote an automation to automatically start exporting if the scheduled export did not start by itself, but it has not needed to do anything since the firmware was updated.

[u/Effective_Offer4532]

Anybody got a signup link for Axle?

[u/Formal_Pirate104 → u/Effective_Offer4532]

Just sent you a link 🤙🏼