Peak shaving with the help of modern battery storage systems from Commeo
Electricity consumption is extremely dynamic and is subject to natural fluctuations in every grid and company, which is completely normal. Manufacturing companies in particular, which carry out energy-intensive processes, are familiar with these fluctuations. The times with the highest electricity consumption are known as peak loads. These peaks can occur in any electrical system when the demand for electricity is temporarily extremely high and significantly higher than average.
Peak loads and their impact on energy costs
It is crucial to identify and minimise peak loads in your own system. After all, they can have a significant impact on energy costs. Peak loads are also an important issue for companies that already rely on renewable energies and produce some of their own electricity. However, the self-generated energy is often not sufficient to cover the peak loads in the company.
When external energy is purchased, billing is not only based on electricity consumption, but also on a demand charge calculated on the basis of peak loads. This serves as an instrument for energy suppliers to stabilise the electricity grid, as a balance must always be maintained between the energy fed into the grid and the energy consumed. Major deviations can even lead to a power outage. Large consumers who purchase more than 100,000 kWh of electricity per year must pay a demand charge in addition to the labour price.
Energy suppliers charge high prices for peak loads, even if they only occur for a short time. This has an impact on the total electricity price. Savings on peak loads can therefore lead to considerable cost savings. The demand charge is intended to motivate companies to ensure a steady supply of electricity through effective energy management and to avoid peak loads. The demand charge is calculated by permanently recording the average value of a 15-minute measuring period using a measuring device.
Peak loads in the company and how they can be avoided
Manufacturing companies in particular cannot operate without load peaks. At the start of a shift in the morning, for example, all machines have to be started up at the same time. This can require a lot of electricity at once. In the production process, many machines are synchronised and therefore draw electricity from the grid at the same time. At peak times, this can lead to a sharp increase in electricity consumption. Companies that rely on renewable energies can often cover a large part of their electricity requirements. However, electricity generation from renewable sources is not always constant. When the weather is bad, energy production from photovoltaic systems is automatically impaired.
If little electricity is produced when demand is high, companies can no longer cover their own energy requirements and are forced to purchase expensive electricity from the public grid. This is the only way to secure the energy supply. This leads to the need for peak load capping to counteract this phenomenon.
Peak shaving aims to reduce the high peaks in electricity demand. This can ensure the stability of the energy supply and prevent grid overloads and power outages. Peak shaving can be achieved through various measures.
Peak shaving through load control
Active load control allows you to limit the power consumption of certain systems, machines or buildings. However, it is important to note that this may also be associated with a reduction in production.
Peak shaving through load management
Load management is about controlling energy consumption, for example by planning energy-intensive processes so that they do not all take place at the same time. For example, some processes can be postponed to the night or run consecutively to avoid a sudden increase in energy consumption during the day. It is important that load management does not cause any downtime and that only the schedules are shifted. In practice, this is often more challenging than in theory.
Implementing measures to save energy
Another important step in reducing peak loads is to optimise the energy efficiency of the entire system. If the individual consumers require less power, this relieves the load on the entire system and reduces the likelihood of peak loads.
Use of battery storage for peak shaving
Sometimes peaks in energy consumption cannot be avoided even with the measures mentioned above. In production in particular, various machines and systems are closely interlinked and cannot simply be operated at different times. Modern factories rely on processes being optimally coordinated and interdependent. In addition, companies endeavour to utilise their machines and systems to the maximum so that downtimes due to high electricity prices are almost unthinkable.
Commeo has developed intelligent battery storage solutions for such cases. They help to cushion peak loads. These solutions are based on the combination of a battery storage unit with a control unit. If energy consumption is above average, the demand is covered by the battery storage system. As soon as the electricity demand falls below the threshold value or the defined power limit, the electricity is drawn from the primary source again. At the same time, the battery storage system is recharged. In this way, energy fluctuations are reduced and the electricity is obtained at a more favourable price overall.
The systems are so precisely adjusted that a change of power source during operation goes unnoticed and has no impact on production.
Intelligent control with the Commeo Energy Control System
Commeo’s intelligent Energy Control System not only regulates the charging processes of the charging points and storage units, but also automatically recognises when the power consumption reaches a certain level. When electricity demand is low, the battery storage system is ideally recharged using the self-generated electricity from the photovoltaic system. This helps to keep the electricity supplier’s power price low.
For a battery storage system to be used optimally, it must be correctly dimensioned. They take into account the individual conditions in the company, record the operating data and create a peak load profile. This is the only way to select the right battery storage system and adapt it to the individual processes.
The battery storage systems from Commeo are designed for multi-use applications. This means that they can be used not only for peak load capping, but also for optimising self-consumption, ensuring an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) or for electricity trading, among other things. In any case, a modern battery storage system contributes to greater sustainability and is an investment that will pay for itself in the foreseeable future. Commeo can provide sample calculations on request.
