Hybrid Horizons: How Octopus Energy powers the future of renewable energy with Storyblok

• Headquarters: London, United Kingdom
• Technology Stack: Next.js, AWS OpenSearch, in-house tech platform Kraken

Kraken is an energy tech platform that is part of Octopus Energy, a pioneering company in the renewable energy sector known for its innovative approach to providing sustainable energy solutions.

Storyblok empowered Octopus Energy to leverage advanced technology and streamline operations for their retail sites across 8 markets. The result? Enhanced customer satisfaction, efficient cross-functional collaboration, and next-level content management.

Octopus Energy’s Previous Growing Pains

The original UK business began with a Django website (Python framework) alongside an open-source CMS called Wagtail and content written in code. Octopus Energy encountered several challenges with this previous setup, including:

• A decentralized content management setup: The previous system resulted in fragmented content management and bottlenecks within workflows, which caused inefficiencies and hindered collaboration.
• High dependency on developers: Creating and managing content required significant developer involvement from non-technical users, leading to delays.
• Limited flexibility and customization options: The CMS wasn’t flexible enough to support Octopus Energy’s rapid growth and dynamic content requirements.
• Slow deployment pipelines: The legacy system was not built for speed, leading to slower deployment and a longer time-to-market for new content and features.

Changing the game

As Octopus Energy set its sights on global expansion, they faced the challenge of creating seamless digital experiences that could scale with their ambitious growth. From developing customer-facing features to entering new markets, their mission required cutting-edge technology to stay ahead. Their transition to a React-based tech stack and adoption of Next.js paved the way for building fast, modern websites tailored to their energy retail operations.

However, scaling into eight diverse markets—Italian, Japanese, British, American, French, Spanish, New Zealand, and German —required more than just modern frameworks. It called for a robust, future-proof foundation capable of managing content efficiently while delivering personalized experiences to customers worldwide.

This is where the powerful partnership between AWS and Storyblok became a game-changer. AWS’s cloud infrastructure provided the scalability, speed, and reliability needed to support Octopus Energy’s rapid growth, while Storyblok’s headless CMS offered the flexibility and intuitive tools required to meet the needs of a dynamic, global team.

• User Roles for seamless collaboration: Storyblok is now the go-to CMS for 19 teams across six business functions in eight countries. Key users include the product, marketing, and technology teams for energy and retail operations. What started with the retail operations team quickly expanded across the organization, as Storyblok’s efficiency and ease of use proved invaluable.

• Integrate with internal tools: While Storyblok shines as an independent product, its true power lies in its ability to integrate seamlessly with internal tools. Octopus Energy connected Storyblok with their in-house tech platform, Kraken, via content and management APIs, enabling highly efficient deployment pipelines and content migration. This integration allows new website versions to go live in as little as five minutes while supporting programmatic content creation at scale.

• Simplifying operation with AWS: By billing Storyblok through AWS Marketplace, Octopus Energy streamlined procurement processes, reduced operational complexity, and gained access to AWS’s seamless ecosystem of tools and services. Additionally, Octopus Energy’s bespoke search tooling, powered by AWS OpenSearch, integrates with Storyblok via API to deliver lightning-fast, intuitive search experiences for their customers.

Together, AWS and Storyblok have enabled Octopus Energy to scale their digital operations with agility, ensuring their global presence feels local and engaging. This collaboration represents a powerful example of how modern, flexible technologies can transform customer experiences and drive meaningful business growth.

Streamlining content operations with native Storyblok Features

1. Component library and design system integration

The flexibility of Storyblok's Component Library has empowered Octopus Energy’s content editors to create experiences independently without relying on developers. Integrated with their Coral Design System, this capability has enabled rapid responses to customer needs across various markets. The design system is designed in Figma, with a matching component library in code, via an NPM package (a package manager for the JavaScript programming language).

2. API access for centralized content management

Storyblok's API access supports Octopus Energy's centralized content management approach by enabling them to maintain cohesive and accessible content across all platforms.

3. Cross-platform and global mobile app integration

Storyblok powers content on Kraken's cross-platform and global mobile app, enhancing its customer experience by providing a consistent and flexible content management solution. Accessed via API, the app’s home screen presents news content showcasing current campaigns, events, and more. This is stored in Storyblok as a form layout. Octopus Energy’s content team can manage everything inside Storyblok without the need for developers to build inside another solution. The Octopus Energy application is available in both Apple iOS and Android.

4. Precise roles and permission system

Since Octopus Energy is expanding to multiple countries and regions, having granular access management and roles is crucial. The precise roles and permission system allows the team to easily control who can access various data.

Stronger performance for global website roll-outs

Improved content creation and deployment

Since implementing Storyblok, Octopus Energy has significantly reduced its dependency on developers for content creation. The typical publishing time has been cut by 1-2 days, with simpler pieces delivered the same day. This has freed engineering teams to focus on strategic projects, resulting in considerable time savings.

Faster time-to-market

The flexible content structure in Storyblok allows editors to quickly build pages from pre-built templates, enabling rapid responses to market changes, regulatory requirements, and customer needs.

Efficient website roll-outs

Octopus Energy's most recent retail business launch went from zero to a working website in two weeks, with published content incrementally added within two months after that. This efficiency demonstrates Storyblok's capability to support fast-paced project timelines.

Reduced development requests

With Storyblok, Octopus Energy has seen a two-thirds reduction in support requests from engineers, highlighting the platform's role in streamlining content operations and reducing development costs.

Looking ahead with Octopus Energy

Storyblok has been a transformative tool for Octopus Energy and Kraken. It enables efficient content management, reduces dependency on developers, and supports rapid growth and innovation. By adopting Storyblok, Kraken and Octopus Energy have enhanced their ability to deliver exceptional customer experiences and maintain their position as leaders in the renewable energy industry.

Octopus Energy plans to continue leveraging Storyblok for various projects, migrating over 1,000 pages from a legacy CMS and expanding its mobile app content. The ongoing integration with their tech stack ensures they remain at the forefront of innovation in the renewable energy sector.