Configuration guide · GivEnergy grid services

Axle Energy for GivEnergy battery owners

Axle Energy runs a home-battery virtual power plant that GivEnergy owners can join. During grid events it exports from your battery and pays you for the energy. GivEnergy Software, which runs the GivEnergy app and portal and is still trading, points owners to Axle. This guide covers who can join, signing up, what happens in an event, payments and how to leave. Independent advice, not affiliated with GivEnergy or Axle Energy.

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Covers eligibility, sign-up, payments and opting out
Checked against Axle's and GivEnergy Software's own pages, October 2026
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Battery exporting when you didn't ask it to?

It may be an Axle event, a smart tariff, or another service that still has control of your inverter. We check remotely which one it is and put your settings right.

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Written by Ronald · Independent Solar Engineer Last updated 6 November 2026

About Axle Energy

What Axle Energy does with a GivEnergy battery

Axle Energy Limited is a UK company whose software connects home batteries, electric vehicles and heat pumps to energy markets. It runs a household virtual power plant, which it calls the Axle VPP: when the grid needs it, members' batteries export together. Axle says it is paid by the grid and shares that money with members.

Who runs what now. GivEnergy Ltd, the manufacturer, entered administration on 9 April 2026. GivEnergy Software Ltd runs the givenergy.cloud portal and the app, and is still trading. Axle Energy is a separate company: GivEnergy Software recommends it to GivEnergy owners and switches GivEnergy Premium on free for members. Everything on this page reflects Axle's and GivEnergy Software's own pages as checked on 25 October 2026. Axle's terms say rewards are not guaranteed and can change.

Looking for GivBack? It was an earlier GivEnergy grid-events scheme, run with Axle Energy from winter 2023/24. By October 2026 its app and sign-up pages had been withdrawn, and GivEnergy Software's help pages point owners to Axle's own scheme. Neither company has said whether GivBack members were moved across, so check whether you already have an Axle account under your email before signing up.

Grid events

When the grid is under stress, Axle runs an event. It emails you the day before, and the day after it shows how your battery performed and what you earned.

Your battery exports automatically

Just before the event Axle saves your settings, sets a timed export at full power for the length of the event, keeping at least 10% in the battery, then puts your settings back. You don't need to do anything.

You are paid for what you export

Payment is per kWh exported during events, on top of your export tariff, with a monthly minimum. Details under payments.

You can leave at any time

From your Axle account, with no exit fee. See how to stop it.

What it means for you

Your battery

An event can leave it close to empty (Axle keeps at least 10%), so you may have less stored energy than usual afterwards.

Your settings

Saved before each event and put back afterwards. If Eco mode or your charge slots look wrong after an event, Axle's help centre lists what to check.

Your tariff and export payments

Unchanged, unless your tariff controls your battery itself. You keep your supplier, Axle's payments come on top of your export tariff or SEG, and Axle says it works with any FiT arrangement.

Your monitoring

GivEnergy Premium (the web portal, remote access, the Smart Scheduler, history and the cloud API) is switched on free while you are a member.

Eligibility

Who can join

Who can join (all of these)

From Axle's terms (January 2026), its GivEnergy page and GivEnergy Software's help pages.

✓You live in Great Britain and are 18 or over. England, Scotland, Wales and most offshore islands on the same grid. Northern Ireland, Ireland and the Isle of Man are not covered.

✓A smart meter that has been talking to the DCC for at least 30 days. SMETS1 or SMETS2, with a registered MPAN. That is how your exports are measured.

✓A GivEnergy system that reports to GivEnergy Cloud. Axle says it works with every GivEnergy inverter that does, and any GivEnergy battery attached to one. Its list includes the 3.6 and 5.0 kW single-phase hybrids (Gen 1, 2 and 3), the 8 and 10 kW Gen 3 hybrids, the 6, 8, 10, 12 and 20 kW three-phase hybrids, the AC Coupled 3 kW, the All in One (3.6 and 6 kW) and All in One 2, the Giv-Bat 2.6, 5.2, 8.2, 9.5 and 5.12 batteries, the high-voltage stacks on the 8 and 10 kW Gen 3, and the All in One's 13.5 kWh pack and expansion battery.

✓Not already in another grid-services scheme. You can't be providing grid services to the system operator, a network operator or anyone else, directly, through your supplier or through a third party. Joining Axle means leaving any previous provider.

✓A recent electricity bill, and the GivEnergy Cloud login that owns the system. Not an installer or delegate login.

Smart tariffs: Axle says it works with any energy supplier and most tariffs, but you can't join if your tariff also controls your battery. GivEnergy Software says being with Octopus doesn't stop you joining. The limit is one battery grid-services scheme at a time. Tariffs such as Octopus Go, Agile and Flux only set your prices. Intelligent Octopus Flux controls the battery itself, and Octopus says its Charge Pack add-on can't be combined with Axle, so with either of those you choose which to keep. See smart tariff lockout and tariff optimisation.

Getting started

How to sign up

There are two ways in, and both end in the same Axle account. Axle says it takes under five minutes.

Through Axle

Create an Axle account

Start from Axle's GivEnergy page and sign up with your email or Google.

Upload a recent electricity bill

Axle reads your address and tariff from it and checks your smart meter.

Choose GivEnergy and sign in with the account that owns the system, not an installer or delegate login.

Allow access

Approve read access and control of the battery during events. The connection uses a standard authorisation (OAuth) on your GivEnergy account.

Through GivEnergy

No GivEnergy account in your name?

You must be the account owner: a delegate login can't join Axle. Set up an account with our portal guide. If your installer or a previous owner holds it, they can transfer it to you in the app: see monitoring account transfer.

Already paying for Premium?

Premium is switched on free when you connect. GivEnergy Software's FAQ says your payments then stop; Axle's page says to cancel your paid plan at givenergy.cloud/billing yourself. Check your billing page after joining.

Sign-up not going through?

Check these first. You must sign in to GivEnergy Cloud with the login that owns the system, because GivEnergy Software says delegate users can't join Axle. If your installer or a previous owner holds it, they can transfer it to you in the app: see monitoring account transfer. Your smart meter must have been talking to the DCC for at least 30 days, with a registered MPAN; if you are not sure of either, ask your electricity supplier. If it still won't go through, we can check your GivEnergy account remotely in a free remote diagnostic.

Grid events

During an event

What happens during a grid event

During an event, Axle's instruction takes priority over your own settings. This is what Axle and GivEnergy Software say happens.

How often, and when

Axle's GivEnergy page and FAQ say 3 to 6 events in a typical month, usually 1 to 2 hours each, depending on grid conditions. Its terms say the number of events is not guaranteed. Axle publishes no fixed time of day.

Notice

An email the day before; the day after, a summary of how the battery performed and what you earned. Short-notice events are separate: opt-in and off by default, usually with at least 2 hours' warning, sometimes only 30 minutes long, and often part of the Demand Flexibility Service run by NESO, the National Energy System Operator.

What it does to the inverter

Saves your settings, sets a timed export at full power for the event while keeping at least 10% in the battery, then puts your settings back. Axle says it doesn't change your charging schedule. It also offers a Fully Optimised mode, in which it sends the battery a new daily schedule around midnight; Events Only mode leaves your schedule alone.

Your battery afterwards

Exporting can leave the battery close to empty, so you may have less stored energy for your own use until it next charges. Make sure your charge schedule fills it when your tariff is cheapest; energy management covers the wider settings.

Settings not put back after an event? Axle's GivEnergy page says its help centre lists what to check in the GivEnergy app if Eco mode or your charge slots look wrong after an event. You can reset them by hand in the app. If they keep changing, see settings changing themselves.

Can you skip an event? Axle's GivEnergy page and FAQ say you can opt out of any event from your account; its terms (January 2026) still say members can't choose which events to join, though you can always leave. If this matters to you, check what your Axle account offers before relying on it.

Payments

Getting paid

How payments work

Axle's figures as checked on 25 October 2026. Its terms say rewards are not guaranteed and can change.

The rate

£1 per kWh exported during events, plus a guaranteed minimum of £10 a month (earnings are pooled across the virtual power plant). Neither Axle's pages nor GivEnergy Software's FAQ give an end date for the minimum.

Where the money comes from

Axle says the rate bundles several sources into one: supporting the grid at times of stress, trading electricity and helping the local network. It is not a single payment from the system operator.

When it arrives

Your Axle balance is credited 2 to 3 days after each event, once the smart meter readings arrive. If a month comes to less than the minimum, Axle tops you up at month end. You can withdraw to a UK bank account in your name whenever the balance is £10 or more.

On top of what you already get

Axle's payments come on top of any export tariff or SEG payment, and Axle says it works with any FiT arrangement. You don't need to change supplier.

Premium included

GivEnergy Software says Axle pays it for every member, so GivEnergy Premium (normally £4.99 a month) is switched on free while you are with Axle. It covers remote access, the Smart Scheduler, history and the cloud API.

Bank details: never give them by email. Axle pays what you earn from your Axle balance to your own UK bank account.

Opting out

Leaving

How to stop it controlling your battery

You can leave at any time, with no exit fee, and you keep what you have earned. Either of the first two routes below stops Axle controlling your battery.

Leave from your Axle account

This closes your membership. Axle's support is at support@axle.energy and help.axle.energy.

Or remove Axle's access in your GivEnergy account

GivEnergy Software gives the address givenergy.cloud/account-settings/security for removing a connected service. Removing Axle there also stops its control of the inverter.

Check your Premium

When you leave, your GivEnergy account drops back to the free Standard tier, which works on your home network only, unless you pay for Premium.

After you leave

No more events. The system follows your own settings again, such as Eco mode and any Timed Charge window, and you stop earning from Axle.

Still changing after that?

Something else has access: a smart tariff, Home Assistant, the Smart Scheduler, or a service an installer or previous owner connected. A free remote diagnostic shows which. The old givback@givenergy.co.uk address is not a route to rely on; GivEnergy Software lists premium@givenergy.co.uk for Premium questions.

When to call STS

→Your battery's behaviour changed after joining and hasn't settled.

→Your settings weren't put back after an event, or keep reverting.

→The battery is discharging at odd times with no event showing in your Axle account.

→Axle and an Octopus battery service, such as Intelligent Octopus Flux or Charge Pack, are both trying to control the battery.

→Your sign-up fails at the GivEnergy step and the checks above don't explain why.

→You joined but no events have come through: we check that Axle still has access to your GivEnergy account and that nothing else has taken control of the battery.

The remote diagnostic is free; a settings fix applied remotely is a flat £125, only if we fix it. Book it below.

Related GivEnergy guides

Settings changing themselves

Events, smart tariffs and other services that write to your inverter.

See settings changing themselves →

Smart tariff lockout

When your supplier controls the battery and settings revert.

See smart tariff lockout →

Tariff optimisation

Matching the battery to your tariff.

See tariff optimisation →

Charge schedule

Cheap-rate charging and the midnight rule.

See charge schedule →

Energy management

How the system decides when to charge and discharge.

See energy management →

Reading the event log

Checking what changed your settings, and when.

Read the event log →

FAQ

Axle Energy questions

What is Axle Energy and how does it work with a GivEnergy battery?

Axle Energy is a UK company that runs a home-battery virtual power plant. GivEnergy owners can join it. When the grid is under stress, Axle runs an event: it emails you the day before, then exports from your battery at full power for the event (keeping at least 10% in the battery) and puts your settings back afterwards. You are paid for the energy exported. GivEnergy Software, which runs the GivEnergy app and portal and is still trading, recommends Axle and switches GivEnergy Premium on free for members.

Is this the same as GivBack?

Not exactly. GivBack was an earlier GivEnergy grid-events scheme, run with Axle Energy from winter 2023/24 and reported to have run again in 2024/25; its 2025 terms named Octopus Energy and Kraken instead. By October 2026 its app and sign-up pages had been withdrawn, and GivEnergy Software's help pages point owners to Axle's own scheme. Neither Axle nor GivEnergy Software has said whether GivBack members were moved across, so check whether you already have an Axle account under your email. If you don't, join through Axle or from givenergy.cloud/billing.

Do I need a smart meter?

Yes. Axle's terms ask for a SMETS1 or SMETS2 smart meter that has been talking to the national smart meter network (the DCC) for at least 30 days, with a registered MPAN. That is how your exports during events are measured. No smart meter: ask your supplier for one first.

Can I skip individual events?

Axle's GivEnergy page and its FAQ both say you can opt out of any event from your account. Its terms (last updated January 2026) still say members cannot choose which events to join, although you can leave the scheme at any time. Short-notice events are separate and opt-in, off by default. If skipping events matters to you, check what your Axle account offers before relying on it.

I joined Axle but haven't had any events. What should I check?

First, how long it has been. Axle's GivEnergy page and FAQ say 3 to 6 events in a typical month, depending on grid conditions, its terms say the number of events is not guaranteed, and you get an email the day before each one. Short-notice events stay off unless you opt in. If a month or more has gone by with nothing, check that your smart meter is still reporting (your supplier can confirm), and that Axle is still listed as a connected service at givenergy.cloud/account-settings/security. If both are fine, raise it from your Axle account or with support@axle.energy. If Axle's access has gone, or another service has taken control of the battery, a free remote diagnostic shows what changed.

Will it change my tariff or my SEG or FiT payments?

No. You keep your supplier and tariff; the exception is a tariff that controls your battery itself, which Axle says rules you out. Axle says it works with any Feed-in Tariff arrangement, and Axle and GivEnergy Software both say Axle's payments come on top of any export tariff or Smart Export Guarantee payment.

Which tariffs work with it: Octopus Go, Agile, Intelligent?

Axle says it works with any energy supplier and most tariffs, but you can't join if your tariff also controls your battery. GivEnergy Software says being an Octopus customer doesn't stop you joining; the limit is one battery grid-services scheme at a time. Tariffs such as Octopus Go, Agile and Flux only set your prices, so the battery stays yours to schedule. Intelligent Octopus Flux controls the battery itself, and Octopus says its Charge Pack add-on can't be combined with Axle, so with either of those you choose which to keep. See smart tariff lockout and tariff optimisation.

What happens to my charge schedule during an event?

Just before an event Axle saves your settings, sets a timed export at full power for the event and puts your settings back afterwards. Axle says it doesn't change your charging schedule, so the battery refills as normal afterwards. (In its Fully Optimised mode Axle also sends the battery a new daily schedule; Events Only mode leaves yours alone.) If Eco mode or your charge slots look wrong after an event, Axle's help centre lists what to check in the GivEnergy app; you can reset them by hand, or see settings changing themselves.

Can I still change my schedule between events?

Yes. Axle says it only takes over during events and hands control straight back afterwards: just before the event it saves the settings you have at that time, and it puts them back when the event ends. Between events the battery runs on your own settings, including your own schedules or Home Assistant. That is Axle's Events Only mode; in its Fully Optimised mode Axle sets the daily schedule too. After an event it is worth checking your settings are still what you set; if not, see settings changing themselves.

Does it work if I have solar panels?

Yes, as far as Axle's published terms go: neither Axle nor GivEnergy Software lists any restriction for homes with solar panels. The requirements are the same as for everyone else (see who can join): a GivEnergy system that reports to GivEnergy Cloud, a smart meter that has been talking to the DCC for at least 30 days, and no other grid-services scheme. Axle's payments come on top of any export tariff or Smart Export Guarantee payment, and Axle says it works with any Feed-in Tariff arrangement.

Will an event leave my battery empty?

It can come close. Axle exports at full power for the length of the event and keeps at least 10% in the battery, so you can have less stored energy than usual for your own use afterwards. If that matters, look at your charge schedule so the battery is topped up when your tariff is cheapest.

When do payments arrive, and how much can I earn?

Axle's offer to GivEnergy owners, as of 25 October 2026, is £1 per kWh exported during events, with a guaranteed minimum of £10 a month, paid by pooling earnings across its virtual power plant. Axle gives no end date for the minimum, and its terms say rewards are not guaranteed and can change. Earnings are credited to your Axle balance 2 to 3 days after each event, once the smart meter readings arrive, and you can withdraw to a UK bank account in your name once the balance reaches £10. How much more than the minimum you earn depends on how many events there are and how much your battery exports.

Does it cost anything to join, and do I get Premium free?

Joining is free and there is nothing to install. GivEnergy Software says Axle pays it for every member, so GivEnergy Premium (normally £4.99 a month) is switched on as soon as you connect and stays on while you are with Axle. If you already pay for Premium, the two companies differ: GivEnergy Software's FAQ says your Premium payments stop once you connect, while Axle's page says GivEnergy doesn't cancel paid plans automatically. Check givenergy.cloud/billing after joining, and cancel there if you are still being charged.

How do I stop it controlling my battery?

Either of two ways stops it. Leave from your Axle account: there is no exit fee and you keep what you have earned. Or remove Axle's access to your GivEnergy account at givenergy.cloud/account-settings/security. Once you leave, your GivEnergy account drops back to the free Standard tier (home network only) unless you pay for Premium. If something still changes your settings after that, another service has access, and a free remote diagnostic shows which one.

Does it cost anything to get help from STS?

Axle is free to join and pays you; STS is independent of it. Our remote diagnostic is free. If we fix a settings problem remotely (an event that left the wrong settings behind, a clash with a smart tariff, or a service you didn't know still had control), it is a flat £125, and nothing to pay if it can't be resolved remotely. It is all account and portal work, so there is no site visit.

How quickly can you sort it?

Usually the same day on our side: checking which services can control your inverter, untangling a clash with a smart tariff, or putting your settings back. We can't speed up Axle's side, such as approving your sign-up, when the next event happens or when a payment lands.

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