Charge when electricity is plentiful
Batteries can absorb energy at times when supply is high and demand is relatively low.
Batteries, tariffs & smart energy
What is Octopus Charge Pack — and is it actually worth joining?
Octopus Energy can now take control of compatible home batteries, automatically charge and discharge them, use them to support the grid and pay the homeowner for taking part.
The headline is a guaranteed minimum credit of £12 per month. But the more important question is what you give Octopus permission to do with your battery in return.
Eligibility and compatibility checked: 1 September 2026The short answer
For the right battery owner, Charge Pack looks genuinely useful.
Home batteries are already capable of doing far more than simply storing excess solar electricity.
They can charge when electricity is cheap, discharge when electricity is expensive and, increasingly, respond to what the wider electricity grid needs.
Charge Pack is Octopus Energy's way of bringing those functions together while leaving you on your existing compatible import tariff.
This is not another electricity tariff.
Charge Pack is an add-on sitting on top of an eligible Octopus import and export arrangement.
The basic numbers
What Octopus is currently offering.
£12+
Guaranteed minimum Charge Pack credit each month.
£144+
Equivalent minimum over twelve full months at today's guarantee.
Auto
Battery charging and discharging is automatically scheduled.
Same tariff
Charge Pack sits on top of an eligible existing Octopus tariff.
These are current product terms, not permanent promises. Octopus can change tariffs, eligibility, compatible devices and commercial terms, which is why this page is dated and periodically reviewed.
What actually happens?
Octopus becomes part of the battery's control system.
On an ordinary day, Charge Pack can schedule the battery around the electricity tariff — for example, charging during cheaper periods and then using that stored electricity when import prices are higher.
When Octopus identifies an opportunity to help balance the grid, it can run a Charge Pack session.
During a session, the battery may be instructed to charge or discharge. In simple terms, thousands of individual home batteries can begin to act like part of one much larger flexible energy resource.
Instead of every home battery operating independently, software can
coordinate them to absorb electricity when supply is plentiful and
release electricity when the grid needs help.
Why does Octopus pay you?
Your battery can provide something valuable to the electricity system.
Discharge when the grid needs support
Stored electricity can be released when demand is higher, reducing pressure on the wider electricity system.
Turn thousands of batteries into one resource
Coordinated home batteries can provide grid flexibility that has commercial value to an energy supplier or flexibility provider.
Eligibility
Owning a battery is not enough on its own.
As of 1 September 2026, Octopus says Charge Pack customers need the following:
- A compatible home battery.
- A working smart meter.
- An eligible Octopus import tariff.
- Outgoing Octopus for exported electricity.
- No competing third-party battery optimisation service controlling the same battery.
- No Feed-in Tariff payments being received from another provider.
Current compatible import tariffs
Octopus currently lists:
- Intelligent Octopus Go.
- Octopus Go.
- Flexible Octopus.
- Eligible Octopus Fixed tariffs.
Cosy Octopus is not currently listed as generally available for Charge Pack, although Octopus is taking registrations of interest.
Battery compatibility
Which home batteries currently work with Charge Pack?
This list will almost certainly change, so treat it as a snapshot rather than a permanent compatibility guarantee.
| Status on 1 September 2026 | Battery brands |
|---|---|
| Supported now | AlphaESS, EcoFlow, Enphase, FoxESS, GivEnergy, HanchuESS, Huawei, Sigenergy and SolarEdge. |
| Octopus says coming soon | Tesla, Solax, LuxPower, Solis, Goodwe, Duracell and Hinen. |
HanchuESS is currently supported.
That is particularly useful for households already using HanchuESS batteries who also want access to Intelligent Octopus Go or another compatible Octopus tariff.
Always check Octopus directly before buying a battery specifically for Charge Pack. Software integrations can change far more quickly than the physical battery itself.
How the £12 guarantee works
It is a minimum monthly credit, not a new export tariff.
Octopus calculates the value of Charge Pack sessions and credits the account for the battery activity it has instructed.
If those session earnings do not reach the guaranteed monthly minimum, Octopus currently tops the account up to at least £12 for the month.
Where Octopus instructs the battery to import electricity during a session outside the cheapest tariff period, it says the customer is compensated so that the instructed charging effectively costs the cheaper rate.
Where the battery is instructed to export, additional compensation is calculated so that the customer does not simply lose money because Octopus chose to run the session.
£12 per month is the present floor, not necessarily the ceiling.
Actual session earnings can vary. Octopus currently guarantees that participating customers receive at least the monthly minimum.
Intelligent Octopus Go
This may be the most interesting combination.
Until recently, homeowners with an EV tariff and a separately controlled battery could run into conflicts between the systems trying to optimise different devices.
Charge Pack is designed to work alongside Intelligent Octopus Go, allowing Octopus to coordinate the battery within the same smart-energy ecosystem.
For a household with an EV, solar and battery storage, that could be a much cleaner arrangement than several independent apps all trying to decide when electricity should be imported, stored or exported.
The interesting development is not really the £12. It is that the
tariff, EV and home battery are beginning to operate as one energy system.
Is Charge Pack worth it?
For many compatible battery owners, I can see a strong case for it.
The positives are fairly obvious.
You keep an eligible existing Octopus tariff, receive automatic battery optimisation and currently receive a guaranteed minimum of £12 per month for participating.
If the battery was already going to be installed and the household is comfortable allowing Octopus to control it, that additional income can improve the economics of ownership.
I would not, however, buy a large battery purely because somebody has multiplied £12 by twelve and added it to a sales spreadsheet.
Battery capacity still needs to make sense for the household first.
The catches
There are a few things I would understand before joining.
- Octopus is being given control over battery charging and discharging when required by the service.
- Customers are currently automatically included in Charge Pack sessions rather than choosing individual sessions one by one.
- You cannot simultaneously put the same battery into another competing smart battery or demand-response scheme.
- Additional battery cycling may occur. Battery warranty terms and throughput limits are therefore worth understanding.
- Octopus's Charge Pack terms state that it does not accept liability for battery wear associated with the feature.
- Compatibility can change as battery software, APIs and integrations evolve.
- The £12 monthly minimum and other commercial terms could change in future.
None of those points automatically makes Charge Pack unattractive. They simply belong in the decision.
Battery wear
Does earning money from the grid wear the battery out faster?
Every time a battery charges and discharges, some of its finite cycle or energy-throughput life is used.
That does not mean Charge Pack will suddenly destroy a modern home battery. These products are designed to cycle repeatedly.
But I would still want to understand the battery warranty before giving any third party permission to increase the amount of cycling.
The useful question is not “Does cycling wear a battery?”
Of course it does. The useful question is whether the income and savings produced by that additional use justify the wear within the battery's expected lifetime and warranty.
Charge Pack versus Flux
They solve the battery problem differently.
Charge Pack is an add-on to an eligible existing tariff. Octopus automatically schedules the battery and pays a minimum monthly credit for participation in grid-support sessions.
Octopus Flux is a dedicated battery-oriented tariff structure with different import and export periods.
Intelligent Octopus Flux goes further by automatically controlling compatible batteries around its tariff — although availability and supported products can change.
Do not choose the name of the tariff first. Work out what the household
needs the battery to do, then choose the tariff strategy around it.
The bigger picture
Home batteries are becoming part of the electricity grid.
This is probably the most important part of Charge Pack in the longer term.
A battery used only to store daytime solar is useful, but its capability is much greater than that.
Smart control means the same battery can respond to electricity prices, renewable generation, household demand and grid conditions.
As more homes adopt EVs, heat pumps, solar and storage, I expect the distinction between an electricity tariff and an energy-management system to become increasingly blurred.
Your battery is becoming a flexible energy asset, not just a box
storing spare solar electricity.
Charge Pack is an early example of what that change looks like in an ordinary UK home.
Common questions
Octopus Charge Pack questions homeowners are likely to ask.
What is Octopus Charge Pack?
Charge Pack is a smart battery add-on from Octopus Energy. It allows Octopus to automatically schedule a compatible home battery and use it during selected grid-support sessions while the customer remains on an eligible Octopus tariff.
Does Charge Pack really pay £12 every month?
Octopus currently guarantees participating customers a minimum Charge Pack credit of £12 per month. Session earnings can vary, and Octopus tops up the amount where necessary to reach the current minimum.
Does HanchuESS work with Charge Pack?
Yes. HanchuESS is listed by Octopus as a supported Charge Pack battery brand as of 1 September 2026.
Does Tesla Powerwall work with Charge Pack?
Not yet according to Octopus's current compatibility list. Tesla is listed as coming soon. Check Octopus directly for the latest position.
Can I use Charge Pack with Intelligent Octopus Go?
Yes. Intelligent Octopus Go is currently one of the eligible import tariffs, provided the other Charge Pack requirements are also met.
Can I use another battery optimisation service at the same time?
No. Octopus requires exclusive control for the relevant demand-response services while the battery is participating in Charge Pack.
Can I skip a Charge Pack session?
Octopus currently says customers are automatically opted into Charge Pack sessions. You can leave Charge Pack completely, but individual session opt-out is not currently part of the service.
Will Charge Pack damage my battery?
Battery use always involves cycling. A modern home battery is designed for repeated charging and discharging, but warranty, cycle and throughput terms should be understood before joining any service that may increase battery activity.
Should I buy a battery specifically to earn Charge Pack payments?
I would not make the purchase decision on the £12 monthly minimum alone. The battery should first make sense for the household's solar, electricity use, tariff strategy and future demand. Charge Pack can then be treated as an additional benefit.
Related Tom Solar guides
Make the battery decision before the tariff decision.
Current product information
Eligibility, supported batteries, tariffs and Charge Pack payments on this page were checked against Octopus Energy's published Charge Pack information and terms on 1 September 2026. These details can change, so always confirm the current position with Octopus before switching tariff, buying equipment or joining the service.
Choosing a solar battery in Scotland?
Start with the house. Then work out what the battery can do for it.
Smart tariffs and services like Charge Pack make home batteries more capable and potentially more valuable. But software should not be used to justify the wrong battery in the first place.
Tom Solar provides independent solar surveys, system-design guidance and quotation reviews for Scottish homeowners. The objective is to work out what equipment genuinely suits the home before committing thousands of pounds.