Octopus Outgoing export tariffs

Eligibility, application, metering and contract terms for Octopus Energy's Outgoing export tariff range.

Outgoing Octopus is Octopus Energy’s range of domestic export tariffs. It pays for electricity measured as leaving a property through its export meter.

The import and export contracts are separate. A household can use electricity from Octopus under one tariff and be paid for export under another, but only combinations allowed by Octopus can be held together. The export payment does not make the import price cheaper, and imported and exported units are not netted against one another before they are priced.

The current Outgoing range

Octopus advertises three Outgoing variants. The following prices and terms are a market snapshot as at 22 July 2026, not permanent figures:

Tariff	How export is priced	Current term
Outgoing Octopus	12p/kWh at all times	Variable rate
Agile Outgoing Octopus	A different wholesale-linked price every half-hour	12-month term, no exit fee
Prime Outgoing Octopus	16p/kWh from 4pm to 7pm and 9p/kWh at other times	12-month term, no exit fee

The flat tariff can change with notice. Octopus describes the Agile and Prime versions as fixed-term tariffs with a locked-in pricing formula, although its general export terms also reserve a right to update an agile formula with 30 calendar days’ notice. The tariff information issued at sign-up is therefore the document to use if the general page and a quote ever differ.

Octopus also offers an export-only SEG tariff for households that do not buy their imported electricity from Octopus. It is a different product from the Outgoing range. Flux and Intelligent Octopus Flux are combined import-and-export tariffs rather than separate Outgoing tariffs.

Who can apply

The governing export terms require the customer and installation to satisfy all of the following:

the customer is domestic
a compliant smart meter and dedicated export MPAN are registered
Octopus has consent to take half-hourly export readings
the customer owns an eligible generating asset capable of exporting to the grid
the asset is in Great Britain and within the relevant SEG capacity limit
the asset is registered with the DNO
no Feed-in Tariff export payment is being claimed for the same installation

The listed eligible sources are solar PV, wind, hydro, anaerobic digestion and micro combined heat and power. The maximum Total Installed Capacity is 5MW, except for micro-CHP, where it is 50kW.

Outgoing rates normally require an Octopus import tariff as well. Octopus says they work with most, but not all, of its import tariffs. Its export-only SEG product is the alternative for a household that wants to retain another import supplier. Compatibility can change, so check the current combination table rather than relying on an old list.

Certification and DNO evidence

For solar, wind and micro-CHP, Octopus’s terms recognise:

MCS certification
Flexi-Orb certification
an equivalent certification scheme recognised by Octopus

If none is available, the terms allow Octopus to ask for other information about the installation. Octopus can refuse the application if it does not receive enough evidence or is not satisfied about the installation’s safety or integrity. That is an evidence route, not a promise that every non-MCS system will be accepted.

For hydro and anaerobic digestion, Octopus decides what suitable certification it needs. Anaerobic digestion also carries Ofgem sustainability and reporting requirements.

DNO registration is separate from certification. The applicant must provide the DNO’s response accepting the generating asset. A commissioning certificate does not prove that this network step was completed, and a DNO acknowledgement does not replace the certification evidence.

Export MPAN, meter and application sequence

The export MPAN is a separate identifier for the export side of the electricity connection. It is not normally the import MPAN printed on the electricity bill.

The application follows this sequence:

Octopus checks the tariff application, certification, DNO evidence and any FIT position.
If an export MPAN does not already exist, it is requested through the relevant industry process.
The export MPAN is enrolled to Octopus.
Octopus confirms that it can retrieve half-hourly export data from the smart meter.
Octopus emails the date from which export payments will begin.

Octopus publishes indicative durations for some stages, but they are not contractual completion dates and depend partly on the DNO and industry systems. The controlling point in the terms is that the export tariff cannot begin until the export MPAN has been created and transferred and Octopus is receiving export-meter data.

Do not assume that payment starts on the generating system’s commissioning date. Keep the application acknowledgement, the opening export reading and Octopus’s email confirming the payment start date.

What the export meter measures

Payment is based on electricity recorded at the grid boundary, not on the inverter’s generation figure. The two numbers can differ because the home consumes some generation before it reaches the grid, a battery changes the timing of flows and conversion losses occur.

Import and export are measured separately. If the property imports and exports within the same half-hour, the smart meter can report both registers for settlement. Export is not simply subtracted from import and priced at the difference between the two tariffs.

All Octopus export tariffs require half-hourly readings under the current general terms. If data is incomplete, the terms allow fallbacks:

where midnight snapshots exist, Octopus may use another export tariff to enable billing
where more than 24 hours of half-hourly data and the snapshots are unavailable, it may use its SEG tariff
after more than 90 days without retrievable data, it may use manual export readings

These rules can change the payment produced during a communications fault. Monitor the export register and account data, particularly after a meter exchange or communications outage.

Feed-in Tariff installations

A FIT-accredited installation can retain its FIT generation payments and move its export payment to an Octopus export tariff. It cannot receive FIT export and SEG or Outgoing export payments for the same installation at the same time.

The owner must opt out of the FIT export element and coordinate the dates. FIT rules restrict how often the export opt-in choice can be changed, so compare the value of deemed export with measured export before moving. A higher pence-per-kWh rate does not automatically win if the FIT scheme is paying deemed export on more electricity than the property actually sends to the grid.

Batteries and grid-charged export

A battery can store eligible on-site generation and shift its export to a more valuable period. That is why Octopus presents Agile and Prime as useful for homes with storage.

Grid-charged export needs more care. Octopus’s older public FAQ says a home can charge a battery when electricity is cheap and export later. Its current general export terms, however, say Octopus is not obliged to pay for “brown export” and include batteries in the examples of electricity not generated by an eligible generation asset.

The contract takes priority over an explanatory FAQ. Anyone planning deliberate grid-to-battery-to-grid trading should obtain written confirmation that the proposed behaviour is permitted under the particular export tariff. It should not be presented as an assured income stream.

Even where permitted, the calculation must include battery losses, import taxes and charges, the export opportunity displaced, cycle wear and any warranty throughput limit. The gross difference between an import and export rate is not the profit.

Payment, changes and ending the tariff

Where Octopus supplies import as well, the monthly statement shows import charges and export credits. If export credit is larger, the account carries a credit balance and an up-to-date account can request a cash refund. VAT is not added to domestic export payments under Octopus’s terms.

The current terms also provide that:

there is a 14-day cooling-off period after asking to sign up
changing between Octopus export tariffs can take up to 30 calendar days
ending an export tariff takes effect within seven calendar days after notice
a house move ends the export tariff on the move-out date
changes to the generating asset, capacity, ownership or person entitled to payment must be reported
Octopus may stop applying export credit while an associated import account is unpaid

If the import supply moves away from Octopus, the existing Outgoing rate is not guaranteed to continue. The terms say export may continue only on an export-only plan, which may be different. Compare the whole import-and-export position before switching either side.