Intelligent Octopus Flux: availability, rates and batteries

Intelligent Octopus Flux was closed to most new customers when we checked on 24 September 2026. Octopus's page said the tariff was "temporarily unavailable" because energy prices were "particularly volatile", and that for now it was "exclusive to customers who bought solar panels and a battery from us". If you bought your system elsewhere, you can join standard Octopus Flux, which was open that day, and set your battery schedule yourself.

Intelligent Octopus Flux (often shortened to IOF) is an import and export tariff for homes with solar panels and a compatible battery. Octopus takes control of the battery: it charges it when electricity is cheapest and exports stored energy between 16:00 and 19:00, when the export rate is highest.

Who can join Intelligent Octopus Flux now

On 24 September 2026, only customers who bought solar panels and a battery from Octopus could sign up. Octopus said it would update its page if that changed. Its price list still showed the tariff, but Octopus's own page is what decides whether you can join.

If you have bought or are buying a system from Octopus, you also need:

• A compatible battery (see below), and one battery only: a second battery that isn't linked to the first has to be run by you.
• A smart meter that sends Octopus half-hourly readings.
• Your import and export already with Octopus, so the switch can go through without the usual checks.
• The Octopus app on an iPhone (iOS 15 or later) or Android phone (version 7 or later), where you connect the battery.

You can register only one device per property, so you cannot connect an electric car to one of Octopus's smart charging tariffs at the same time.

How Octopus runs your battery

Once your battery is connected, Octopus schedules all charging and discharging:

• Charging: from solar and from the grid, at the cheapest and greenest times Octopus finds. Surplus solar is exported when it's sunny.
• Discharging: to the grid between 16:00 and 19:00, aiming at the most useful times for the grid in that window.
• Minimum charge: Octopus's FAQ, last dated October 2023, says batteries are kept at a minimum of 20% charge, and that this may vary through the year.
• Your control: you can't set a target charge level or a ready-by time. You can disconnect the battery in the app to take control back, but Octopus says a long disconnection may end your eligibility.

Octopus says its charging plan won't wear the battery more than regular charging. What counts for you is the battery maker's warranty, which usually limits cycles or total throughput, so check yours before handing over control. Our solar battery guide explains what battery warranties cover.

Intelligent Octopus Flux rates

On 24 September 2026 these rates were open only to customers who bought solar panels and a battery from Octopus. Import and export rates always match on this tariff, Octopus says: the price you pay to buy at a given time is the price you're paid to export. It has two periods. Octopus's import rates for London on 24 September 2026, without VAT:

Across the 14 regions of Great Britain, the off-peak rate ranged from 19.09p (East Midlands) to 21.12p (Merseyside and North Wales), and the peak rate from 25.45p to 28.16p, about a third above off-peak. The London standing charge was 40.40p a day. There's no VAT on household electricity in Great Britain from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027. The tariff is variable, so these rates can change with notice, and there are no exit fees.

Compared with standard Flux in London that day, the intelligent version charged more at night (20.07p against 14.56p) but less during the day (20.07p against 24.25p) and at the peak (26.76p against 33.96p). It paid much more for daytime exports (20.07p against 9.80p), and less at the peak (26.76p against 28.60p).

What the matched rates mean for a battery

Because buying and selling cost the same at any time, a battery earns only from moving energy from off-peak to peak. Using London rates and assuming the battery returns 90% of what goes in:

• 1 kWh of solar exported straight away: 20.07p.
• The same kWh stored and exported (or used at home) at the peak: 0.9 × 26.76p = 24.08p, so 4.01p more.
• 1 kWh bought off-peak at 20.07p and sold at the peak: 24.08p − 20.07p = 4.01p gained.

The gain from shifting is small. What sets this tariff apart is the high rate for every kWh of solar you export at any time of day, roughly double standard Flux's 9.80p daytime rate. Octopus's own figures, for customers already on the tariff between June 2024 and May 2025: 34% were paid more for their exports than they paid for their electricity, and the top 12% made £314 or more on top of covering their whole bill. Octopus doesn't say what size of system or battery these homes had, and the figures don't count what the systems cost. Those results come from a period with different rates (the London off-peak rate ranged from about 20.17p to 22.34p without VAT over that period, against 20.07p now), and two-thirds of customers didn't get there.

Compatible batteries

Octopus's online checker listed these battery brands on 24 September 2026: AlphaESS, EcoFlow, Enphase, Fox ESS, GivEnergy, Hanchu ESS, Huawei, Sigenergy, SolarEdge, SunPower and Tesla. Its FAQ page named a shorter list of current integrations (GivEnergy, Enphase, SolarEdge and Tesla Powerwall), and Octopus says it can't guarantee compatibility because specifications change. Ask Octopus to confirm your exact model before you rely on it.

A GivEnergy battery raises a separate question: GivEnergy Ltd went into administration in April 2026, which matters for warranty support. Our GivEnergy page covers what we know.

If you can't get Intelligent Octopus Flux

Octopus says Charge Pack pays at least £12 a month for taking part in its grid sessions. It supports AlphaESS, EcoFlow, Enphase, FoxESS, GivEnergy, HanchuESS, Huawei, Sigenergy and SolarEdge batteries, with Tesla listed as coming soon. It can't be combined with another company's battery-control service.

Our guide to tariffs for solar and batteries works through which of these suits which home, and our Outgoing guide shows which import tariffs pair with Outgoing.

Frequently asked questions

Is Intelligent Octopus Flux still available?

Only to customers who bought solar panels and a battery from Octopus, when we checked on 24 September 2026. Octopus said the tariff was temporarily unavailable to everyone else because energy prices were volatile. Standard Octopus Flux was open.

What is the difference between Octopus Flux and Intelligent Octopus Flux?

On Octopus Flux you schedule the battery yourself, and import and export rates differ at each time of day. On Intelligent Octopus Flux, Octopus schedules the battery, and the rate you pay to buy equals the rate you're paid to sell. In London on 24 September 2026 the intelligent version paid 20.07p for exports outside the peak, against 9.80p on standard Flux.

Which batteries work with Intelligent Octopus Flux?

Octopus's checker listed 11 brands on 24 September 2026, including Tesla, GivEnergy, Enphase, SolarEdge, Fox ESS, Sigenergy and Huawei. Its FAQ named four current integrations. Confirm your exact model with Octopus.

Can I use Intelligent Octopus Flux with an electric car?

Not as a second smart device. Octopus lets you register one device per property on its intelligent tariffs, so the battery takes that place. You can still charge a car at the tariff's normal rates.