Conferences

Octopus Energy Tech Summit 2026

After transforming its Tech Summit from an initial 400-person conference into a 2,500-guest experience at Evolution London in 2025, Octopus Energy returned to Battersea Park in June 2026 with an even bigger ambition.

The Event

This time, the question wasn’t whether the event could scale. It was how much further it could go.

With 3,500 guests, an expanded event footprint and a bold exterior takeover that brought the Octopus Energy brand outside the venue, the 2026 Energy Tech Summit built on everything achieved the previous year while creating an experience that felt distinctly its own.

Building on 2025

The 2025 Octopus Energy Tech Summit was defined by rapid growth. After demand dramatically exceeded expectations, the event moved to Evolution London with just six weeks to deliver a conference that ultimately welcomed approximately 2,500 people.

For 2026, Evolution London was no longer the solution to an unexpected challenge. It was the starting point.

Returning for a second consecutive year allowed the Octopus Energy team to build on a proven format while thinking even bigger from the outset.

Attendance increased to 3,500 guests – 40% higher than 2025 – but the ambition went beyond simply accommodating more people.

The challenge was to retain everything that makes the Tech Summit unmistakably Octopus while finding new ways to surprise returning guests, increase the event’s impact and make even greater use of Evolution London’s scale and flexibility.

[NIKKI: After the scale-up in 2025, what made you want to go even bigger for 2026 rather than consolidate at 2,500?]

After we accomplished what we did in 2025, with only 6 weeks notice - the question we were all asking is - what could be achieved with more notice?! The driving goal of this event since we upscaled, has been bringing it to the most amount of customers possible.

Taking the Experience Beyond the Venue

One of the biggest developments for 2026 happened before guests had even walked through the doors.

Hot pink stretch tents transformed the front of Evolution London, immediately bringing Octopus Energy’s distinctive visual identity into Battersea Park, alongside the return of the event’s giant wind turbine.

A large-format LED screen took the experience outside too, broadcasting content from the main stage throughout the day.

It meant the exterior wasn’t simply an arrival space. Guests could continue watching the talks while outside, extending the event beyond the venue walls and creating an experience that felt more like a festival than a traditional conference.

Rather than the Octopus brand experience beginning at registration, it started from the moment guests approached Evolution London.

[NIKKI: Where did the inspiration for the exterior screen and outdoor experience come from? Was there inspiration from other immersive events or productions? How important was it to make the event feel inclusive outside as well as inside?]

The exterior screens and outdoor experience had been widely inspired by attending the immersive Grease event at Evolution last September. I loved how the venue had transformed into the iconic Rydell High and felt like it really captured the festival/carnival feeling that I wanted to achieve for this event - as opposed to a run of the mill conference.

Bigger, Bolder and Unmistakably Octopus

Inside, Evolution London’s blank canvas was once again transformed into an environment unmistakably belonging to Octopus Energy.

But returning for a second year didn’t mean repeating the same formula.

The Summit combined a packed programme of talks and panel discussions with hands-on technology, exhibition areas, installations and playful brand moments throughout the venue.

Guests could explore low-carbon technologies including heat pumps and EV chargers, watch EV battery strip-down demonstrations and get closer to some of the technology shaping the future of energy.

Even the event’s giveaway was delivered at Octopus scale: a brand-new EV filled with 1,132 Constantine plushies, with guests challenged to guess the exact number to win the car.

The result was an event where serious conversations around the future of global energy sat comfortably alongside the personality and creativity of the Octopus brand.

[NIKKI: How do you keep the Octopus brand identity feeling fresh year-on-year while retaining the things people immediately recognise and love?]

Our first year at Evolution was a real trial and error - and whilst we were delighted with the outcome, there were a lot of lessons to be learnt about how we did things. I think the key to keeping it fresh is being confident and actually lean into switching things up, questioning everything we do and why we do it and not being afraid to turn it on it’s head. Connie our wonderful pink Octopus isn’t going anywhere though.

The Day Itself

Taking place during London Climate Action Week – and on one of the hottest June days on record – the 2026 Energy Tech Summit brought 3,500 guests together at Evolution London for a day dedicated to the future of energy, technology and innovation.

Hosted by Steph McGovern, the programme brought together customers, scientists, inventors, policymakers and technology leaders from around the world. Speakers included astronaut Tim Peake, Octopus Energy founder and CEO Greg Jackson, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, mathematician and broadcaster Hannah Fry, John Kerry and Richard Osman, with conversations spanning AI, energy security, clean technology and the transition away from fossil fuels.

Beyond the main stage, guests could get hands-on with the technology being discussed. The exhibition floor showcased low-carbon innovations including heat pumps and EV chargers, alongside EV battery strip-down demonstrations and interactive experiences.

The Summit was also the backdrop for major announcements, including the unveiling of Octopus Nook, its forthcoming range of home batteries, and Swaptopus – a new venture with CATL focused on bringing battery-swapping technology for heavy goods vehicles to Europe.

And, in true Octopus style, there was plenty of playfulness amongst the serious conversations. A brand-new EV filled with exactly 1,132 Constantine plushies was up for grabs, while the Octopus mascot himself made his way around the event meeting guests.

As temperatures soared outside, the event flowed between Evolution London’s indoor and outdoor spaces, with the exterior screen allowing guests to continue watching talks beyond the main event space. Food, drinks and live music then took the Summit into the evening, creating an atmosphere Octopus described as more like a peak-summer festival than a Monday night.

It was a format that went far beyond a traditional conference – combining thought leadership, product launches, exhibition, experiential activations, networking and entertainment within one event.

More Than a Conference

The Summit also became the stage for major announcements.

Octopus unveiled Octopus Nook, its forthcoming range of home batteries, and announced Swaptopus, a new venture with CATL designed to bring battery-swapping technology for heavy goods vehicles to Europe.

Guests could see and experience technology on the exhibition floor, hear directly from the people shaping the industry and engage with ideas that went far beyond the traditional conference format.

And when the main programme finished, the atmosphere shifted again.

Food, drinks and live music took the event into the evening, rounding off a day that blended conference, exhibition, brand experience and summer event under one roof – and beyond it.

Built to Keep Evolving

Returning to Evolution London for a second year brought another advantage: both teams already understood how the event worked within the space.

The knowledge built during the previous year’s fast-paced delivery could be applied from the beginning, allowing conversations to move beyond what was possible and towards what could be improved, expanded or completely reimagined.

Evolution London’s scale and flexible floorplan provided the room to do that.

For an event that had grown from an original 400-person concept to 3,500 attendees in just two editions at Evolution London, that ability to accommodate change was particularly important.

[NIKKI: What makes Evolution London the perfect venue for the Tech Summit for two years running?]

It’s a blank canvas which really lends itself to our design process of trying to push things to their limits and really challenge what we can do with the look of the event. Being located in the beautiful surroundings of Battersea Park, it feels like a great place to welcome our customers from all over the UK. And the third reason is that the team at SMART and Evolution are second to none in their professional can-do attitude. I love working with them.

The Outcome

The 2026 Energy Tech Summit demonstrated what can happen when an event has both the space and confidence to keep evolving.

Attendance grew from approximately 2,500 guests in 2025 to 3,500 in 2026, representing a 40% year-on-year increase.

The event’s footprint grew with it, taking the Octopus experience outside Evolution London and turning the exterior into a genuine extension of the event.

Inside, thousands of customers came face-to-face with emerging clean technology and some of the biggest names in energy, technology, politics and science. Most importantly, the Summit didn’t simply reproduce the success of the previous year. It built on it.

A venue initially chosen because Octopus Energy suddenly needed room to scale had, one year later, become the setting for an event deliberately designed to think bigger.

[NIKKI: If you had to sum up this year’s Summit in one line for someone who wasn’t there, what would you say?]

This year's summit proved that the energy transition is a conversation to have with everyone, not just the politicians and the energy industry.

[NIKKI: What feedback did you receive from guests about the event and their experience?]

People were blown away by the hospitality, the calibre of our speakers and the programme and the beautiful relaxed setting that we built for them.

From 400 guests in the original brief, to 2,500 in 2025, to 3,500 in 2026, the evolution of the Energy Tech Summit is a fitting example of what Evolution London does best: giving ambitious events the space to grow.

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