Embracing the flexible power future with a comprehensive energy strategy

The energy transition is ushering in a new energy landscape, with energy set to be more democratic, decentralised and digitalised than ever before. To negotiate this successfully and take advantage of all of the opportunities that the energy transition provides, businesses need to put in place strategies that will enable their energy profile to thrive both now and in the flexible power future.

The flexible power future has four core components.

• Firstly, there is the need for businesses to improve their energy efficiency to reduce electrical consumption, costs and CO2 emissions.
• Second is the need to be more flexible with energy by controlling energy usage and maximising existing generation.
• Third is ensuring that a site has energy resilience which can be delivered through battery storage with full Uninterruptible Power Supply capabilities.
• The final core component of the flexible power future is the insights that are provided through the remote monitoring capabilities of smart energy solutions which provide continuous analysis and ongoing improvements.

The best way of ensuring that you have a thriving energy profile in the flexible power future is to create a comprehensive energy strategy that combines complementary smart energy technologies to provide the four core components. This can be done by finding a technology to target each individual component, beginning with efficiency. Efficiency can be vastly improved through the implementation of voltage optimisation technology which conditions incoming voltage to an optimal level and therefore leads to lower electrical consumption and costs in addition to prolonging the life of electrical equipment.

Flexibility can be targeted through battery storage. This is because battery storage can store energy from renewable generation at peak time for usage at a later period when generation conditions are no longer present. This provides the site with the option of using this energy at any time, a clear example of where this flexibility would be of financial benefit would be to use this stored energy at peak tariff time.

Additionally, battery storage can enhance resilience due to the Uninterruptible Power Supply capabilities of leading solutions. These capabilities ensure that the load is supported with backup supply within milliseconds of an energy-related failure being detected.

All assets should be managed through an effective energy management system (EMS), which responds in real time to prioritise the energy solutions to optimise output. For example, if the priority is to maximise on-site renewable generation, the system can monitor when this generation is no longer optimal and can make itself available to other applications, such as aggregation services and Demand Side Response activities.

Finally, the insights component of the flexible power future is provided by the remote monitoring capabilities that smart energy solutions offer. These capabilities allow the key performance characteristics of energy assets to be visible at any time and from anywhere with a secure internet connection. This allow energy managers to spot potential issues with the energy profile before they occur and therefore identify and implement solutions in a proactive manner.