diff --git a/roles/pep/defaults/main.yaml b/roles/pep/defaults/main.yaml
index cd25d6c..8f03bc6 100644
--- a/roles/pep/defaults/main.yaml
+++ b/roles/pep/defaults/main.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 pep_port: 80
-
+pep_replicas: 1
 # hostnames to be used as vhosts
 conductor_server_name: conductor-server
 conductor_ui_server_name: conductor-ui
diff --git a/roles/pep/templates/pep-swarm.yaml.j2 b/roles/pep/templates/pep-swarm.yaml.j2
index 30ae156..41e16de 100644
--- a/roles/pep/templates/pep-swarm.yaml.j2
+++ b/roles/pep/templates/pep-swarm.yaml.j2
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ services:
       - "./config.js:/etc/nginx/config.js"
 {% endif %}
     deploy:
-      replicas: 1
+      replicas: {{ pep_replicas }} 
 {% if infrastructure != 'local' %}
       placement:
         constraints: [node.role != worker]
diff --git a/site-dev.yaml b/site-dev.yaml
index 4b26af9..99a847f 100644
--- a/site-dev.yaml
+++ b/site-dev.yaml
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
     pymail_password: "{{ smtp_dev_pwd }}"
     iam_host: https://accounts.dev.d4science.org
     pep: True
+    pep_replicas: 2
     pep_credentials: "{{ dev_pep_credentials }}"
     ha_network: True
     conductor_ui_secret: "{{ dev_conductor_ui_secret }}"