The Energyst

theenergyst.com

08

Price shock: Prepare for higher power bills warning

June / July 2016

18

Management crisis: Esos highlights energy management gap

42

Solar flair: Only one renewable tech performs as stated

The new name for Water, Energy & Environment

One solution that empowers industry Tomorrowí s manufacturing industry demands much more. ENGIE is a new kind of energy and services company ñ a strategic partner to help you meet todayí s needs and tomorrowí s challenges.

engie.co.uk

5971 EngiePhaseII_Manufacture_A4_AW_LDM.indd 1

31/05/2016 16:33

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

36

10 Policy & Legislation

Building Controls The Lilacs International Commercial Centre in Shanghai demonstrates opportunities for smart buildings of the future

How will Brexit affect the UK’s energy policies?

58 Lighting

Helvar’s intelligent lighting control system is an integral part of its recently opened new headquarters

18 Policy &

26

Legislation

Demand-side response

What has Esos achieved? If nothing else, it has proven that even the largest firms are putting insufficient resource into energy management

National Grid steps up its plans to balance the national power system using batteries

30 Viewpoint

Part of the shift has been in making senior managers more accountable

HVAC

46

42 Renewable

Moving away from direct electric heat across an estate spanning 136 buildings in 26 cities is no mean feat. But Unite Students’ energy manager James Tiernan has made some interesting findings. All is not what it seems

theenergyst.com

08

Price shock: Prepare for higher power bills warning

June / July 2016

18

Management crisis: Esos highlights energy management gap

42

Solar flair: Only one renewable tech performs as stated

The new name for Water, Energy & Environment

Willmott Dixon finds the performance of renewable technologies rarely matches the design predictions. Only one technology is consistent

14 Cover Story

Energy

4

News & Comment

A step change in behaviour is needed at every level of the organisation to realise the potential savings from energy efficiency

Switch Gas & Electric looks at the changing face of the domestic energy market

Demand-side response

24

Heat Pumps

54

Insight

10

Building Controls

36

Lighting

56

Policy & Legislation

12

Renewable Energy

40

Water Management

63

Gas & Electricity

20

HVAC

44

Q&A

70

To subscribe please visit: theenergyst.com/subscribe theenergyst.com

June/July 2016

3

COMMENT

Managing change requires managers Almost everyone in the industry is speaking about Brexit and its implications both for the economy and for energy policy. What can be said that hasn’t been said already? Certainly nothing of any firm use, it is mostly pure speculation. We do, however, know that uncertainty causes price volatility and that a weaker pound will cause energy imports to be more expensive.

All of this might lead one to conclude that energy management will become more important, vital to large energy users, and that any reductions in consumption that can help shore up bottom lines would be more welcome than ever. No so, according to those following up on Esos. A Carbon Trust assessor said that out of 30 audits he conducted as lead assessor, he dealt with a dedicated energy manager on just one occasion, (see page 18). This isn’t merely a reflection of the usual gripes; finance, effective measurement & verification, training and skills et cetera. It is a failure to acknowledge the business case for energy management.

Boards are right to question claims by some parts of the industry that appear to good to be true. But it may be that their own short-sightedness is to blame.

According to Accenture, “50% of initial energy savings disappear for most organisations within the first six to 12 months due to lack of continuous

monitoring, analysis and corrective action”.

That is, investments in energy efficiency are being wasted because the resource to ensure return on investment – knowledge – has been underinvested, or worse, cut altogether.

This needn’t be the case and it doesn’t have to an energy manager in title. Some of the best energy managers are maintenance engineers, facilities managers and environmental compliance officers. But as the Esos auditer pointed out, without somebody driving energy efficiency, it is difficult to embed it at the heart of business.

There are always those that object to capital expenditure. However, uncertainty is not sufficient reason to underinvest in energy reduction, in fact it is the opposite. When times are tough a small expenditure in staff or technology that leads to a decent return from reductions in energy consumption is more than worth the while. Whether within or without Europe there’s work to be done reducing your energy costs.

Now that is a certainty.

There are always those that object to capital expenditure.

However, uncertainty is not sufficient reason to underinvest in energy reduction

Editor Tim McManan-Smith tim@energystmedia.com t: 020 3714 4450 m: 07818 574308

Contributing editor Brendan Coyne brendan@energystmedia.com t: 020 3771 1267 m: 07557 109724

Sales director Steve Swaine steve@energystmedia.com t: 020 3714 4451 m: 07818 574300

Sales manager Harry Powell harry@energystmedia.com t: 020 3751 7863 m: 07557 109476

Circulation enquiries circulation@energystmedia.com

Production Paul Lindsell production@energystmedia.com m: 07790 434813

4 June/July 2016

Energyst Media Ltd, PO BOX 420, Reigate, Surrey RH2 2DU Registered in England & Wales – 8667229 Registered at Stationers Hall – ISSN 0964 8321 Printed by Warners (Midlands) plc No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of the publishers. The opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers.

The Energyst is a controlled circulation magazine available to selected professionals interested in energy, who fall within the publishers terms of control. For those outside of these terms, annual subscriptions is £60 including postage in the UK. For all subscriptions outside the UK the annual subscription is £120 including postage.

Follow us for up-to-date news and information:

theenergyst.com

Powering your business with support thatĂ­ s

onest Call our UK based experts on Caroline Milner Operations Channel Manager

Business electricity supply specialist

HP0749 Energyst - June CS AW.indd 1

01473 707755 www.havenpower.com 01/07/2016 16:51

NEWS & COMMENT

Infrastructure chief: UK could be energy storage world leader if government acts now The chief executive of the National Infrastructure Commission has urged government to act on the recommendations of its reports or miss the financial benefits of pioneering smarter energy systems.

Phil Graham told National Grid’s Power Responsive conference that the UK could be a world leader in energy storage with the right market frameworks in place.

Government, he said, had to enable those frameworks.

The committee’s March report recommended government create suitable policies to enable a smarter energy system, which it said would save consumers billions

The report also suggested that investors were ‘queuing up’ to invest in subsidyfree storage of pounds by reducing the need for new power stations.

The report also suggested that investors were “queuing up” to invest in subsidy-free storage.

The Treasury backed the report’s proposals and threw

a bone to the energy storage sector with a promise of “at least £50m” of funding for energy storage and demandside response development.

Decc has also committed to consult on smart energy systems and recently stated that storage was “a top priority” for the department.

However, Graham said that while the committee was “an advisory body rather than a delivery body… an increasingly important part of our remit is that we are expected to hold government to account”.

Government tended to be “very good at publishing positive responses”, said Graham. “But we will be paying very close attention.

If things aren’t moving forward [at sufficient speed], we have a voice and we are prepared to use it,” he added.

Graham also told the conference that if demandside response could achieve 5% penetration within the energy system, it would deliver the equivalent capacity of the proposed new nuclear reactor at Hinkley Point.

If it is constructed, Hinkley Point C would add low carbon baseload power to the UK energy system. But the cost of the project, underpinned by 35-year government contracts that would be added to energy bills, could top £20bn – excluding decommissioning costs.

The business end of climate change A new research report, The Business End of Climate Change, launched at the Business & Climate Summit in London’s Guildhall on 29 June, puts a figure for the first time on what greenhouse gas emissions cuts could be achieved by business worldwide.

The report examines what will be achieved by the plans of five key global business initiatives (RE100; EP100; Science Based Targets; Zero De-forestation; and LCTPi) on climate action currently under way and compares this with what could happen if all relevant companies were to sign up to these initiatives and implement their plans.

The report shows that: • The current business determined contribution (BDC) to climate action – the amount that, by 2030, business will cut its greenhouse gas emissions – is 3.7bn metric tons of CO2 equivalent a year under current plans • The potential BDC to climate action could be as high as 10bn metric tons of CO2 equivalent a year by 2030 with the right policy environment that supports all relevant companies signing up • The number of companies signing up to these initiatives could rise from 300 today to more than 3,500 by 2030

6 June/July 2016

Commenting on the report, IKEA chief sustainability office Steve Howard said: “Action on climate change is not only the right thing to do, it brings business benefits. For IKEA Group it’s a driver of innovation, renewal and an opportunity

to make our business better.”

The current BDC to climate action of 3.7bn metric tons of CO2 equivalent a year represents more than 60% of the total emissions cuts (6bn metric tons by 2030) pledged by all countries in the Paris Climate Agreement through their own Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). It is the equivalent of taking more than 1,000 coal-fired power stations permanently out of use, almost 75% of the world’s total.

Business is not waiting until 2030 to play its part. In total, about 300 leading companies have already signed up to the five climate action initiatives that the report analyses. Companies signing up to the initiatives come from all over the world in all different sectors and are joining in growing numbers – in the past 12 months (June 2015-May 2016), 174 companies signed up to these initiatives, compared with 49 companies in the previous 12 months (June 2014-May2015).

By 2030, the initiatives plan to have more than 3,500 companies signed up, driving forward the low-carbon economy.

theenergyst.com

Small business energy tariffs: Competition watchdog mandates major changes The Competition and Markets Authority has urged regulators to move all small businesses to half hourly settlement, end automatic rollover contracts and to allow rival suppliers and TPIs access to customer details so that they can target them with cheaper energy supply contracts.

Should the watchdog’s remedies be implemented, the intended outcome is to increase competition and reduce costs for small firms.

The CMA said that suppliers were making high profits from disengaged small business customers (twice the margin they make in the domestic market and four times the margin made in the I&C market). On average, firms were paying around a third more on rollover tariffs for electricity than retention tariffs, and about a quarter more for gas, according to the CMA’s figures. Meanwhile, those on deemed tariffs were paying at least two thirds more for electricity and gas than

those on retention tariffs.

The CMA said small firms had poor visibility of market prices, so proposes making business suppliers disclose all tariffs on their websites, allowing business to compare the market. It hopes that will lead to similar penetration of price comparison websites as in the domestic market, driving down prices.

As some customers find themselves locked into autorollover contracts due to the very short window they are given to switch, the CMA said that window should be extended and that suppliers are not allowed to lock in customers with termination fees and no-exit clauses.

Suppliers will have to disclose details of customers sitting on most expensive tariffs to rivals, giving them the green light to target them with cheaper deals.

The outcome of mandatory half-hourly settlement should be more accurate bills businesses and the ability to

Suppliers will have to disclose details of customers sitting on most expensive tariffs to rivals, giving them the green light to target them with cheaper deals pay less for energy by using it outside of peak times.

Currently, most businesses are settled according to a profile class for electricity, rather than their actual consumption. That reduces incentives on suppliers to innovate and means businesses are not always paying reflective prices for their power use.

By moving to half hourly metering and settlement, businesses will face more

reflective time-of use charges for power. That is, expensive power in the morning and evening peak periods, but cheaper during the late morning and mid-afternoon and very cheap overnight.

The move would also allow demand-side response aggregators access to the entire non-domestic sector.

Small businesses will welcome any reduction in business energy tariffs. Many face significant challenges in securing competitive deals and the sector has been dogged by accounts of sharp practises, opacity and poor customer service.

If the CMA’s proposals are fully implemented, the result may be a feeding frenzy of customer acquisition activity as suppliers and TPIs are given contact details of customers known to be on poor value contracts.

However, half-hourly settlement may see firms paying higher bills unless they actively manage consumption.

UK firms paying highest power prices in Europe UK business energy prices continue to rise faster and fall slower than other EU member states, according to latest government data.

British firms are paying far more than European competitors for electricity. Whereas five years ago businesses enjoyed some of the best rates for gas, that is no longer the case, Decc statistics show.

Electricity prices excluding tax for small, medium and large firms were the highest in Europe from July to December 2015 with the UK is ranked 28th out of all member states.

Small business energy users

theenergyst.com

are paying almost 60% more than the median bloc price.

Four years ago they were paying just 5% more, with prices more competitive than in Spain, Italy, Ireland, Sweden and Belgium.

However, while power prices have declined across the bloc, the UK’s have increased.

The picture is worse for medium and large power users. Excluding tax, medium users are paying almost 79% more than the bloc median, and almost 92% more than the average price across EU15 states.

Large users are paying 104% more than the EU28 median.

While median gas prices

for businesses have fallen, the statistics show that prices are falling faster across much of the EU. Whereas business four years ago enjoyed the best gas prices in Europe, that is no longer the case.

In the second half of 2011, small firms were paying the lowest prices in the EU15 and the third lowest across all 28 states, paying 27% less than the average excluding tax. That advantage has now disappeared.

In 2012, excluding taxes, medium gas users paid the third lowest prices for gas, 16% below the average, with only Romania and the Netherlands

paying less. Now medium UK consumers pay 8% more, with 20 states paying less on average.

For large users, the UK has slipped from being the cheapest place bar Romania to consume gas in 2011, to the average across all member states in 2015. While UK gas prices have declined over the last two years, price decreases have been smaller than the rest of Europe.

Across both gas and power, the picture for rates paid including taxes is slightly better, although the competitive advantages enjoyed by companies doing business in the UK are diminishing.

June/July 2016

7

NEWS & COMMENT

Decc consults on how £320m heat networks money should be spent Decc has launched a consultation to gauge how the £320m put aside for heat network development should be spent. It is also trying to pick the best route towards a market framework that makes heat networks comparable with other utility asset classes such as electricity and gas networks.

The aim is to enable heat networks to compete with utility networks for investment without subsidy by 2021. The Association for Decentralised Energy believes this is achievable. Director Tim Rotheray welcomed the consultation, which came as energy secretary Amber Rudd said Decc would not walk away from its existing commitments post-Brexit vote.

The aim is to enable heat networks to compete with such infrastructure for investment without subsidy by 2021 While some specialist infrastructure funds have appetite for heat network investment, others feel the returns are too low given that construction risk – with many moving parts – is relatively high. Additionally, demandrisk suppresses appetite

because revenues depend on having a guaranteed heat offtaker for 40 or so years.

Decc aims to help alleviate some of those risks by helping to seed a project pipeline and derisk the market to unlock private capital. It believes its £320m injection could bring in up to £2bn in finance.

To kick-start that market, the department proposes an initial pilot phase, where only local authorities/public sector sponsors and owneroperators can access funding.

After the pilot is complete, the plan is to work findings into the next phase, which, subject to consultation, may open funding to a wider set of stakeholders, such as property developers and not

for profit/community groups.

The consultation makes clear that funds can only be used for the heat networks, connections or heat sources themselves – while existing heat networks may be granted funds for refurbishment if they can prove efficiency gains.

The consultation also states that the funding may be used in conjunction with other support schemes such as the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) and ECO, provided there is no direct overlap with the former, ie the funding cannot go towards parts of the project that will be supported by RHI payments.

Because ECO is a supplier obligation, it is not included as government support.

Triad, capacity costs, CfD and RO: Prepare for increases, warns SmartestEnergy SmartestEnergy has outlined its predictions for power bill non-commodity cost increases from next year onwards.

The forecasts suggest significant increases for some pass through charges.

For bills next winter, the greatest unknown is the capacity market charge after Decc decided to bring the market forward by a year. As brokers and suppliers have warned, the impact on bills will only become clear once the result of the auction is published. It is anticipated that the out-turn may be significantly higher than previous auctions as government tries to legislate to prevent diesel and reciprocal gas engines from scooping the pool.

8 June/July 2016

However, there are also some unknowns around Renewables Obligation (RO) costs, which will be set for next year in September. Firstly, how many energy intensive industry firms will qualify for the exemption on renewable levies. The more that qualify, the higher the scheme costs for everyone else.

Secondly, whether Drax is granted late approval for the Contracts for Difference (CfD) support scheme. It is currently supported, via bills, through the RO. In all scenarios, said SmartestEnergy, the RO will likely increase next year by around £3/MWh, but will then level out as the scheme closes to new entrants.

The firm also predicts the impact of the small scale Feed-in Tariff (FiT) will increase. Although its forecasts were tempered by new caps on the scheme, SmartestEnergy pointed to the general trend of lower underlying UK demand creating a smaller base from which to recover costs.

Meanwhile, although the costs of the CfD scheme currently add very little to bills, firms will start to feel the impact

from next year onwards. SmartestEnergy predicts it could push beyond £9/MWh by 2019/20.

Triad SmartestEnergy said that regional differences in transmission network charges were expected to be more marked in coming years. While firms in Scotland and the north of England could expect to pay less than this year, it predicts increases for all other regions.

The firm also said Triad periods were becoming harder to predict, with many more instances of half hourly demand getting close to the Triad period. That meant firms must double down on sustained energy reduction measures to be sure of hitting Triads. It predicts average Triad costs will increase by 2% next year, but warned firms to expect double digit increases for the following three years.

The company outlined its predictions in a June webinar. A poll of the audience found 88% considered an exit from the EU would have negative consequences for the energy sector.

Sponsored column

Government backs ambitious carbon budget In November 2015, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) advised government to set the fifth carbon budget to reduce UK greenhouse gas emissions in 2030 by 57% relative to 1990 levels.

On 30 June, the government has accepted that advice.

The committee welcomed the signal this sends about UK ambition to continue reducing emissions into the 2030s across the economy. This is particularly important given the uncertainty following the recent vote to leave the EU. The CCC’s advice aimed to identify the best course for the UK, following a full assessment of the domestic impacts of meeting the proposed carbon budget.

This included analysis of the benefits and the costs to households and businesses of the action required, and an assessment of international

action to reduce emissions.

The committee said government’s acceptance of the fifth carbon budget places the UK in a position to take advantage of an emerging world where low-carbon power, vehicles, buildings, industry and agriculture are in demand.

The UK continues to reduce its emissions.

Provisional figures for 2015 show that UK emissions are 38% below 1990 levels.

Lord Deben, CCC chairman, said: “Amid many competing demands it is to [government’s] credit that they continue to prioritise efforts to tackle climate change in the UK and internationally.

The government’s commitment to reduce UK emissions by 57% by 2030 will open up opportunities for UK businesses both at home and abroad.”

Power shift: Coal tanks, gas rises, onshore wind doesn’t blow as much Output from coal-fired power stations halved in the first three months of this year compared with the same period in 2015. Gas generators largely made up the difference.

Meanwhile, output from renewables and low carbon generation increased slightly, mainly off the back of more wind and solar capacity and Drax converting a third unit to run mainly on wood pellets last summer, government statistics show.

The share of renewable power in the mix would likely have been higher but for lower than average wind speeds, which offset higher onshore wind capacity. Offshore wind increased its contribution to

theenergyst.com theenergyst.com

the mix increased by 10%.

Meanwhile, the UK imported a record amount of power from the continent, suggesting a favourable price differential for continental generators.

Final consumption of electricity fell slightly by 0.3%, from 83.3 TWh in 2015 quarter one, to 83.0 TWh in Q1 2016. Domestic consumption fell by 1.5 per cent, from 31.7 TWh in 2015 Q1 to 31.2 TWh in 2016 Q1.

In 2016 Q1, industrial use of electricity at 2% per cent higher and consumption by commercial and other users at 26.9 TWh was 0.4% higher than the same period in 2015.

Going the extra mile Once you’ve implemented all of the obvious energy-saving measures in the boiler room, what comes next? Tony Willis of Sabien Technology suggests the next obvious step It may be summer now but the next heating season will soon be with us, so this is a good time to consider added measures that will optimise the energy performance boilers to reduce costs and carbon emissions.

By now, many organisations have already implemented some measures to improve the efficiency of their building(s)’ heating and hot water systems. These might have included optimising or upgrading the building management system (BMS), adjusting temperature settings, introducing boiler sequencing and weather compensation (if they weren’t already in place) and encouraging behavioural changes.

Nevertheless, there is sustained pressure to ‘go the extra mile’ and achieve further savings once these obvious ‘tweaks’ have been applied. The challenge for the energy manager, therefore, is to identify additional opportunities for achieving significant savings within budgetary constraints.

In this respect, those projects that will deliver a fast payback for a relatively small investment of capital have particular appeal, as the savings achieved help to fund more ambitious, longer-term energysaving projects. In many cases such projects will involve retrofitting additional technologies to enhance any energy savings that are already being achieved.

With respect to boiler plant, the next obvious area to address is that of boiler dry cycling, something with which many Energyst readers will already be familiar. What may not be quite so obvious is the fact that the existing energy-saving measures mentioned above will not typically identify or prevent boiler dry cycling directly. Yet tackling this phenomenon – using patented Sabien M2G retrofit boiler load optimisation – has the potential to

reduce energy consumption by 12% to 15% across a typical estate – over and above those savings that have already been achieved from the current controls.

Crucially, it is possible to prevent boiler dry cycling with a relatively low investment and a typical payback within two years, without conflicting with existing boiler control/ BMS strategies or compromising comfort conditions within the building.

This is because M2G boiler load optimisation control works in a very different way to any other previously tried methods. By monitoring each boiler every second, the M2G is able to establish a profile of the current load being placed on each boiler; it can identify immediately if the boiler is dry cycling to compensate for standing heat losses or if there is a genuine heating demand and dynamically respond accordingly.

This continual adaptation to BMS/optimiser variable set points strategies ensures the M2G is able harmonise with and complement existing controls without artificially altering the boilers’ original designed set points or the system temperature and therefore enables additional cost savings to be delivered without compromise .

Another important point, in terms of life cycle costs, is that M2G units are self-learning and require no maintenance or seasonal calibration and can be easily transferred to new boilers if existing plant is replaced.

In addition, removing the boiler “dry cycles” and “short cycles” will put less stress on the boiler and other components. The underlying reasons for boiler dry cycling and an explanation of how M2G prevents it are included in an animation that can be viewed at sabien-tech.co.uk

INSIGHT

The end of an era – will the UK be left in the dark?

Carbon2018’s compliance director Melanie Kendall-Reid looks at the implications as the UK prepares to exit the European Union

T

he referendum has been decided and the result is in. The UK is to leave the European Union after 43 years. This is the end of an era. While the British public has spoken and the decision to leave the EU has been made, the path is far from straightforward.

The referendum is merely the start of a two-year process of negotiations and decisions.

The UK has now to decide if it will join the European Economic Area (EEA), thereby remaining an associate member of the European Union, or cut all ties with Europe – as far as it is possible to do so in a globalised world economy.

If the UK decides to remain part of the EEA, the huge progress that has been made to date in improving the UK environment could be lost in the absence of external pressure and auditing that membership of the union has brought. A total withdrawal is likely to bring a much wider erosion of environmental policy, which could be the intention the current government and one which risks significant economic damage to the UK. It is possible however, for members of the EEA to follow EU environmental policies.

Both Norway and Iceland, as non-EU members of the EEA, follow EU climate policy closely and participate in large parts without exerting significant influence on its development and direction.

Norway participates in the EU

10 June/July 2016

The CBI suggested that green business accounted for 8% of GDP, a third of UK growth, in 201112 and could add a further £20bn to the UK economy

ETS via its parallel trading system. Initially, it was only able to do so through a oneway voluntary acceptance of EU ETS allowances to meet its own trading system’s obligations, but joined fully in 2008, once the European Commission had accepted its proposals for a cap and allocation of allowances.

Norway’s participation in the ETS continues to allow it the flexibility of a wider carbon market; but it has no influence on the carbon price applied or the level of ambition set for the ETS. Iceland has less need of an emissions trading mechanism, since its domestic energy supply is 100% renewable; but has been part of the EU’s wider emissions target since the EU and Iceland jointly ratified the Kyoto Protocol.

Its contribution to the Paris Agreement is aligned with the EU’s, although it had no

voice in European Council discussions on the targets, and (like Norway with the ETS) its only choice in implementation is either to accept EU rules, or to comply separately without the flexibility allowed to member states. This would be the position of the UK if it now decides to become an EEA member outside the EU. Also, with regard to trading with its European counterparts, the UK will be subject to a wide range of EU laws it will now have little influence over their content.

European environmental policies provide business opportunities to UK firms to become market leaders in the development of new technologies. The Confederation of British Industry suggested that green business accounted for 8% of GDP, a third of UK growth, in 2011-12 and could add a further £20bn to the UK economy. The

theenergyst.com

EU is our largest trading partner offering access to a larger marketplace and the opportunity to trade with other member states under favourable terms and conditions. In order to gain preferential access to the EU market EEA members do have to abide by the acquis communautaire – the rules and regulations governing the operation of the single market, including many environmental rules.

A total withdrawal with no EEA membership would lead to significant risk of both rising energy costs and security of supply as the UK has a heavy dependence on European interconnectors.

Predictions are that by 2030 the UK will be importing circa 75% of its gas. Events in the past two years in Eastern Europe, with Russia using its gas supplies through Gazprom as a tool of foreign policy, have shown how important it is to keep suppliers onside.

Before we joined the EU, Britain was seen as the dirty man of Europe. In the period that the UK has been in the EU, the economy and environment has improved,

albeit not entirely due to EU membership. For many years, Europe led the world in renewable energy investment but China has overtaken this. EU nations promoted clean energy at vastly inflated costs through imposed renewable energy targets, tariffs and subsidies. When budgets reached breaking point in 2011, European renewable energy investment slumped by more than half and has yet to recover.

Some environmental policies are as a result of UK initiatives. Driven by concerns on carbon price, the UK unilaterally enacted the carbon floor price, which is contributing to the closure of coal-fired power stations. The UK has also singly decided to phase out coal-fired power entirely by 2025. In coming decades, the planet faces an unprecedented challenge in the form of climate change and the only way to address it is through technological innovation and reduction of energy use.

What is most worrying now the decision to exit the EU has been made is that, in recent years, the UK

government has shown a clear lack of commitment to driving down energy use, preferring to focus its attention on security of supply at any cost as demonstrated by the capacity market auctions.

The government is now effectively free to amend or repeal the acts adopted to give effect to the EU laws that has driven the implementation of energy efficiency measures.

Without the levels of environmental protection afforded by EU membership, the weakening of UK environmental policy appears inevitable under the current government. The longer term commitment is more positive, in that, on 22 April, the UK signed the COP21 agreement, committing to 1.55% reduction in carbon emissions. The UK is expected to deliver on this whether it is an EU member state or not.

The majority of the rules that regulate the use of fracking are derived from European directives and are intended to make sure that fracking and other activities do not contaminate water, pollute the air or use unsafe chemicals. The government

has suggested in the past that fracking legislation is an unnecessary burden.

The government’s clear and unmoving support for fracking is a firm indicator that this will be the case.

There is widespread acknowledgement from a large number of global organisations that the implementation of energy saving measures and a reduction in energy use is essential to future success. From a corporate responsibility perspective, many companies insist that measures that improve the efficiency of buildings from which they operate go beyond the legislative requirements.

While the UK population who supported the decision to leave the EU today may have given the current government the tools to overturn some of the progress made through EU environmental policies, the benefits of energy efficiency are recognised beyond the legislative requirement and this will continue to drive change regardless of any steps that the impending exit from the EU will bring. te carbon2018.com

!" 0333 7000 250 ' #"'#"*)+$+#,-.)/,#0),+"#,,#"#$%&1231)4

www.pulsebusinessenergy.co.uk

!"#$%&'()&#$'' of the Year 2015

theenergyst.com

June/July 2016

11

POLICY & LEGISLATION

Hitting on-site generation ‘will drive up bills’ Government plans to review incentives for smaller-scale power generators risk driving up power prices without sufficiently incentivising new gas power stations, according to an independent report by Cornwall Energy. Brendan Coyne reports

C

ornwall Energy, forms and the report finds that commissioned by some payments, particularly the Association for those relating to the capacity Decentralised Energy, market, may be over-weighted, has outlined a number of thorny thereby distorting competition. issues thrown up by Decc’s However, after detailing plans to review incentives for Ofgem’s apparent inability smaller-scale power generators. to deal with the issue over Tim Rotheray, the ADE’s the past decade, and the director, said the review could significant increase in National inadvertently reduce rather than Grid’s allowed revenues for increase security of supply. transmission investment, it warns Decc announced the review that sweeping cuts to embedded of embedded benefits along benefits could at best create with changes to the Capacity unintended consequences.

Market, which is intended to At worst it would pile costs increase security of supply onto UK businesses without by paying generators to be delivering sufficient incentives available when needed. for investors in new gas power The department also wants stations. Broadly speaking, the capacity market to incentivise the report found the current developers of new gas plant. level of embedded benefit However, auction was appropriate. clearing prices to date have been too Cost to industry The ADE low. Much of the contracts have said that the changes being been awarded Triad chagres could be to existing coal considered this much lower if and gas plants,

by Decc and charged on volume, as well as some Ofgem could hit I&C firms small-scale diesel not demand by £170m a year. plant, which are Some manufacturers able to undercut large plant because they have could see bills rise by £3m either no investment to make, or per site, it suggested. ADE very little compared to the cost members Boots and British Sugar warned government of building a large new CCGT. against making the UK In response, Decc has asked economy less competitive.

Ofgem to review the so-called Rotheray said government embedded benefits regime, whereby generation connected to was right to try and curb growth the distribution system receives of diesel farms but warned payments for helping to reduce against misguided policymaking.

He said that “a confused series congestion on the national of interventions” had created transmission system as well as complex policies and “a lot of the local distribution system. noise” that risked undermining These payments come in various

25%

12 June/July 2016

Rudd: intermittent generators to pay more reflective costs under her watch the principles of charging to use the electricity networks.

“People seem to be looking at the money for connected distribution, thinking that money can be reallocated to those on the transmission system and as a result, they will all build gas plants. The evidence from the work we have had done is that unequivocally won’t happen,” said Rotheray.

“Government must be very careful. It has a genuine concern about design of the capacity market, but that concern is constrained by a limited desire to go back through the State Aid process. Therefore its focus has been directed to areas outside of capacity market and State Aid.” The upshot, he said, is that “it is likely to end up with a situation of worse security of supply not a better one”.

Rotheray pointed out that National Grid had been allowed “very substantial” increases in the revenues it is allowed to recoup from investments in transmission, which in turn increased benefits for those that do not use the transmission system. Because of that “some

change [to charging regimes] is likely”, he said, urging generators on the distribution system to ensure their voices are not “drowned out by larger, more singular voices”.

The report accepts that Transmission Network Use of System (TNUoS) embedded benefits may be overstated.

It puts forward an alternative method for Triad charging, by which large businesses and generators are charged and rewarded for their consumption or generation over the three tightest half hour periods over winter. It suggests recovering long-term transmission investment from diminishing demand over a one-year period is flawed and suggests the Triad charge could instead be determined based on the maximum half hourly demand over the last ten years. Rates could be inflated, for example, by 5-10% to reflect any additional spare capacity within the network.

An adjusted Triad charge calculated based on network capacity aligns the long-term revenues with the long-term capacity of the network and therefore provides a more effective estimate of the avoided costs of embedded generation, states the report.

The report suggests reflective Triad charges could be around 25% lower and should be socialised and recovered on a volume rather than demand basis. However, it found that the distribution network benefits may be understated, particularly for non-intermittent generation.

theenergyst.com

EDF tables changes to stop small generators driving down capacity market prices Cornwall Energy also said that the Competition and Markets authority should not change the current transmission losses arrangements, which split transmission losses between demand and generation, as it would effectively remove an embedded benefit. It said that the current level of benefit under distribution losses arrangements was appropriate.

Constraint costs The report warned against making generators pay for the constraint issues they cause on networks (such as when it is windy or sunny and there is insufficient demand on the system). While constraint costs (whereby generators are paid to stop exporting) are increasing, Cornwall Energy said the current approach of spreading those costs across all energy bills should continue. However, Amber Rudd warned in her reset speech that intermittent generators would be made to pay more reflective costs under her watch.

Cornwall Energy suggested government was right to review benefits for embedded generators within the capacity market, whereby they are effectively being paid twice under current rules, distorting prices.

However, the report concluded that overall, the current level of benefits paid to embedded generators was “broadly appropriate”. It recommended taking a whole system approach to network charging in order to create more consistent and robust regulation than the current set of independently-created rules. te

theenergyst.com

EDF is pushing for market rule changes that would take money away from small generators with capacity market contracts, rendering them much less able to make low bids within the auction. The outcome would likely drive up capacity market clearing rates

E

nergy company EDF wants Ofgem to make a decision in September this year on its proposed modification as it believes embedded generators would otherwise have an unfair advantage over larger power stations in the next capacity auction, scheduled for December.

The system currently treats embedded generators – those connected to the distribution network – as negative demand for the purposes of transmission network charging. As a result, embedded generators do not pay generation transmission charges and also receive a benefit from suppliers because they reduce their demand transmission charges. This is often referred to as ‘netting off ’.

EDF is not tabling wholesale changes to that arrangement. However, it proposes that embedded generation with capacity market contracts cannot be netted off within the residual component of transmission network charges, with new rules effective as of 2020.

For those without capacity contracts, everything stays the

same, but the change would take a significant chunk of revenue away from generators with capacity market contracts.

EDF thinks that is necessary to stop smaller generators undercutting larger generators from securing contracts in the capacity auctions. Other industry parties have previously expressed similar views.

The move follows the government’s commitment to review the way generators connected to the distribution network make their money.

The issue has been kicked around for some time, but has come to a head partially because smaller generators are driving down prices in the capacity market. Due to the extra revenues they make from the current charging regime, they can bid lower and still make extra profit. Winning a capacity contract is therefore a bonus – as it is for all existing plant.

While that is arguably a good result for bill payers, who pick up a lower cost of what is effectively an insurance policy to keep the lights on, it has been estimated that auction clearing rates need to double in order to sufficiently incentivise large new

gas plant. Getting new plant built was the original main aim of the capacity market, spawned as part of the interventionist Electricity Market Review (EMR) almost six years ago.

So far, there is not much new gas generation being built, so Decc is looking to change the rules. It has tasked Ofgem with reviewing the benefits received by embedded generators and wants the regulator to have some idea of what to do by summer. National Grid is also reviewing the transmission charging arrangements.

While industry experts have recently suggested that the embedded benefits regime is “broadly appropriate” (see opposite), they accept that a review is necessary, provided it looks at the right things and doesn’t rush to achieve an outcome that backfires.

However, distributed generators are understandably concerned that their revenues may come out the other side significantly smaller, and that their voices will be “drowned out by larger, more singular voices,” according to Association for Decentralised Energy director Tim Rotheray. te

The change would take a significant chunk of revenue away from generators with capacity market contracts.

EDF thinks that is necessary to stop smaller generators undercutting larger generators from securing contracts in the capacity auctions June/July 2016

13

The power system Is changing

Headline Partner

DSR Event 2016 Demand≠Side Response

Thursday 8th September 2016 / Banking Hall, London, UK

100 free places available to end users Register your place today at dsrevent.uk Partners

DSR A4 Ad.indd 1

Media Partners

Organised By

6/29/16 9:05 AM

COVER STORY

Domestic energy is changing Switch Gas & Electric looks at the changing face of the domestic energy market

I

n 2009, the domestic energy market was dominated by the ‘Big Six’ of British Gas, EDF, E.On, npower, Scottish Power and SSE – who accounted for approximately 99% of the electricity and gas market share.

Since this time, a number of independent suppliers have entered the market and account for 12% of the electricity market, and 13% of the gas market.

Concerned with the lack of competition in the market, and allegations of profiteering within the Big Six suppliers, Ofgem referred the energy industry to the Competition and Market Authority (CMA) in June 2014. According to Dermot Nolan, chief executive of Ofgem, “There is nearunanimous support for a referral and the CMA investigation offers an important opportunity to clear the air. This will help rebuild consumer trust and confidence in the energy market as well as provide the certainty investors have called for.”

Number of tariffs The CMA provisional decision on remedies has also reversed the Ofgem ruling surrounding the number of tariffs that energy suppliers may offer to retail customers. Since 2013, energy suppliers have had the ability to provide only four core customer tariffs to ensure customer clarity within the energy marketplace.

Furthermore, the structure of the tariffs was limited to including a standing charge (which could be zero) and a unit rate structure (the removal of multi-tier tariffs).

Smart metering A corollary

theenergyst.com

the ruling is the increased focus upon smart metering, which is especially relevant considering the smart meter rollout in the UK. The rollout is anticipated to continue until 2020, and will result in the installation of over 53 million smart meters in over 30 million homes and businesses. As smart meters can provide half hourly consumption data, they can allow energy suppliers to provide innovative products based upon this information.

Customer database The CMA provisional decision on remedies also posited providing energy companies access to a database of customers on standard evergreen tariffs.

In April 2016, the difference between the cheapest available tariff on the market and the average available variable tariff was £325. A combination of apathy and avoidance of perceived inconvenience ensure that the majority of customers are on these variable tariffs – with no fixed end point, and with the supplier free to amend the price charged to them.

This proposed database would be operated and controlled by the energy market regulator, Ofgem.

Customers placed within this database would have the ability to opt-out at any time, but would be beholden to Ofgem to maintain an acceptance

frequency of marketing communications sent. The efficacy of providing marketing materials to customers who have not switched from a variable tariff for three years, when they are surrounded with a proliferation of energy and switching related marketing in the mass media, has yet to be established by the CMA. Independent Suppliers The emergence of new entrants into the energy market may have begun the shift away from the Big Six suppliers; however the growth of independent energy suppliers is one of the most significant retail market developments and has the ability to cause disruption to the establishment.

While the emergence and growth of independent suppliers had provided an opportunity for customers in terms of increased competition, there are a number of challenges for regulators.

Currently, independent energy suppliers are assigned a threshold of customers under which they are except from complying with standard regulation – however, this provides a disincentive to further growth if the marginal gain of the extra customer is outweighed by the increase in administrative or financial load.

In 2010, there were 7 independent energy companies with fewer than 50,000 customers. The influx of

independent energy suppliers entering the market – sitting at 44 in total today – has led to an increased risk of failure. With Ofgem relaxing the conditions for acquiring a supply license, there becomes a real risk of failure if wholesale prices were to rise substantially. While the last such occurrence was in 2008, how long until we see another independent supplier fail?

Currently, if an independent energy supplier was to fail then Ofgem would appoint a replacement firm so that customers would experience no loss of service. Ofgem will turn to a Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) process, which allows Ofgem to direct any gas or electricity supply licensee to take over responsibility for a failed supplier’s customers – assuming that such an action would have no negative impact upon its ability to supply existing customers.

Supplier insolvency would have an impact upon customers’ credit balances, as without regulatory intervention they are unlikely to receive their money back. The introduction of a safety net factored into all customer bills has been posited

by Ofgem as a way of protecting customers should this occur.

Looking Ahead With the recent Brexit causing enormous volatility in the energy markets – resulting in a number of domestic tariffs being withdrawn and replaced with more expensive variants, it is important to ensure that domestic energy customers are provided with the advice and support to make an informed decision. te For more information, contact info@ switchgasandelectric.com or call 03333 700 600

June/July 2016

15

POLICY & LEGISLATION

Brokers warn of bill hikes from early capacity market auction Brokers warn that the early capacity market could add 5% to energy bills, but the full costs will not be known until the next auction. Brendan Coyne reports

T

he government’s move to bring forward the capacity market could add up to 5% to business energy bills, according to energy brokers and third party intermediaries.

They say suppliers, while uncertain of exact costs, are unlikely to underprice the charge in energy contracts.

It is “highly unlikely” suppliers will be able to absorb the cost, said Bobby Collinson, managing director at Noveus Energy.

“Assuming it outturns at £20/ kW, that is a couple of per cent [on bills]. They might not have it in their margins.” Suppliers will

Not many fixed contracts are actually fixed. They have a clause that allows them to pass through charges Bobby Collinson 16 June/July 2016

therefore pass on the charges even on fixed contracts, he said.

“Not many fixed contracts are actually fixed. They always have a clause that allows them to pass through charges from any changes to government legislation. I am sure a number of suppliers will exercise that right,” said Collinson.

“A quarter of a percent they could absorb. But I think it will be 1-2% of the bill.”

Jon Ferris, strategy director at Utilitywise, said the cost could be as much as 5%. That is because the clearing price may be significantly higher than previous auctions as government tries to incentivise new gas plant. At present support rates, new gas plant is unlikely to be built. Decc and Defra are working up plans to create tough emissions laws for diesel plants which would effectively lock them out of auctions, potentially driving up support rates.

“The expectation is that [the auction] will clear at a higher rate,” Ferris told The Energyst. The first capacity auction cleared at £19.40/ kW with last winter’s market clearing at around £18/kW. “Essentially the first auction cost about £1bn,” which he said equated to around 3% on bills. Perhaps double the clearing price, close to £40/ kW might be required to incentivise new gas, he added.

“That would equate to a 5% increase on the total bill overall.”

Ferris said that “in theory” higher support rates from capacity contracts should reduce wholesale costs, as

Perhaps double the clearing price, close to £40/kW, might be required to incentivise new gas John Ferris

Margins are very competitive, therefore the ability of suppliers to take it onboard is unlikely Magnus Walker

generators require less margin from wholesale prices to achieve profit. But “in practice, I don’t think that will happen.

You won’t get a full offset from the capacity market in the wholesale price.”

Magnus Walker, director of trade and risk at Inprova Energy, said revised capacity market costs have been built into contracts issued since the announcement was made earlier this month. However, the additional costs for existing contracts was “a grey area”.

“As far as we are aware, suppliers have not declared what the additional charges will be. But they do have clauses in contracts to recover third

party costs if they chose to do so – and we expect that they will,” he said. “Otherwise they will have to swallow those costs.

It is a very competitive market, especially with a bunch of new suppliers coming into market.

Margins are very competitive, therefore the ability of suppliers to take it onboard is unlikely.”

Walker said that estimates of how much the capacity market would add to bills on a per kilowatt basis varied hugely, with suppliers likely to ensure they do not sell themselves short.

“Given the variable estimates of the cost of the earlier capacity market, if you are a supplier, you are sure as heck not going to put lower estimate on,” he said. te

theenergyst.com

POLICY & LEGISLATION

Esos and the slow death of energy management?

Six months after the original deadline, what has Esos achieved? If nothing else, it has proven that basic energy management is absent in even the largest firms. Brendan Coyne reports

T

he majority of companies required to undertake an Esos energy audit have done so. But how many have taken action as a result?

Utilitywise undertook 275 audits, equating to roughly 5% of those firms that met the 31 January deadline.

Of those 275, Tim Hipperson, the firm’s head of special projects, believes as few as 5% are fully acting upon recommendations.

“What came out of it loud and clear was that Esos was seen as a cost to the business, with very little upside.

There was no mandatory requirement to act upon the recommendations,” he says.

For those that do not implement recommendations, the cost exercise becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

All pain, no gain?

“In many cases, it was an unbudgeted cost – and it was seen as a pain because there was no mandatory return on investment,” says Hipperson. “So there hasn’t been a great deal of uptake on the recommendations.”

That equates to a lot of wasted energy.

“Out of those 275 organisations, we found just shy of 2,900 energy saving opportunities that would deliver almost half a billion kilowatt hour savings – 461, 335,434 kWh to be precise,” Hipperson says.

“That represents nearly 2.5m tonnes of CO2 savings, with an average payback

18 June/July 2016

Businesses have to work out how to bridge the gap in energy management

What came out of it loud and clear was that Esos was seen as a cost to the business, with very little upside. There was no mandatory requirement to act upon the recommendations Tim Hipperson

of just under four years.”

Even in terms of simple actions, such as metering controls and behavioural change, those 275 organisations could save £11.2million averaging under a two-year payback, claims Hipperson.

But businesses have other priorities.

“There are various other business pressures that they would rather invest in,” he says. “If you are a bus company, you measure it against buying new buses.

Energy is not key at board level in a lot of businesses.”

Positive signs David Tobin, energy consultant at the Carbon Trust, suggests that may be because dedicated energy management resource is scarce in all but the largest organisations. Without that expertise, he says, boards are unlikely to be presented with

sound businesses cases.

The Carbon Trust was involved in about 200 Esos assessments, “some doing all the work, some just providing the lead assessor”, says Tobin. Around half provided feedback.

“Pretty much all of them have taken forward the evidence pack to form the basis of discussions regarding investment strategies going forward in terms of engaging the board and stakeholders,” he says.

In terms of implementation, Tobin says, “about 80% have already acted upon the recommendations”.

However, he says the majority of those actions were lowcost measures that were already part of existing budgets or projects.

For longer payback measures, “of two to three years plus”, which will require new capex budgets, feedback suggests “around

theenergyst.com

25% of participants will consider those measures in the near-term”.

That may be higher than the levels seen by Utilitywise and other third parties, “but is by no means a really high number,” says Tobin. “Very few businesses – perhaps 5% – have been interested in embedding energy management best practice in their organisations and considered ISO50001.”

Tobin though thinks that the Esos has brought energy “into sharper focus” for many.

“Leveraging finance for investment beyond what was in initial budgets does take time, which is possibly why we haven’t seen an awful lot [of investment] to date,” he says. “But now, when the investment is made, it is likely to be much more focused in areas of actual benefit to the business – and Esos has been a success in highlighting that.”

Knowledge gaps Esos also shone a spotlight on the need for better energy management.

“Every organisation has gaps in energy management and what we perceive to be best practice. There wasn’t a single business that we have audited that couldn’t have made improvements,” says Tobin.

“It was clear from our audits that a lot of standard

maintenance contracts don’t really have energy efficiency as an agenda item. On a number of occasions we highlighted very quick wins that people were able to make through simple changes.”

Despite Esos being targeted at large organisations, very few had dedicated energy managers, says Tobin.

“There is a real gap in the provision of energy management in large businesses – and that might be a reason why [energy] investment is not at the front of the financial director’s mind,” says Tobin. “[The FD] hasn’t got an energy manager presenting a decent business case for these improvements.”

According to Environment Agency data, 40% of early qualifiers had to make estimates of their energy consumption.

Was Tobin surprised?

More surprising, he says, was the lack of dedicated resource.

“I did about 30 [audits] as lead assessor and of those 30 I worked with one dedicated energy manager,” says Tobin.

“Predominantly I was working with health and safety or environmental managers. They have other priorities that draw their attention away from pure energy management. So it is not that surprising there were gaps in the energy

information, because the resource and time to manage it effectively is not there.

“I think if the resource was there – and the skill was there essentially – then I don’t think we would have been estimating as much as we needed too.”

I did about 30 Esos audits as lead assessor. Of those 30 I worked with just one dedicated energy manager David Tobin

What next for Esos?

Despite post-Brexit vote uncertainty, Utilitywise’s Tim Hipperson thinks Esos is here to stay. “It is enshrined in UK law, so I am very confident there will be a second phase of Esos [in 2019],” he says.

Both the Carbon Trust and Utilitywise think businesses should focus on ISO50001. The standard goes beyond Esos by mandating that businesses look for continuous improvements in energy efficiency and focus on best practice. Hipperson suggests that while the outcome of the government’s review of energy legislation is unknown “it could be that they are all consolidated under ISO50001”.

In the meantime, Utilitywise is pushing clients to put their energy data onto one of its dashboards, so that they have visibility of energy consumption via an app.

“That is our number one piece of advice. Get your data on a platform where you can visualise and monitor it. If it is in a format where it is easy to understand, you make energy management reporting easier,” says Hipperson. “Then you can get an energy report in your board pack every month – and you can start measuring and proving savings.”

theenergyst.com

Prepare for impact Tobin agrees with the suggestion that many large firms might be in for a shock over the next few years, given predictions of steeply rising non-commodity components of energy bills and the impact of more businesses moving to half-hourly settlement. Half-hourly prices are also expected to become more volatile due to policy and regulatory changes now coming into play. Meanwhile, although wholesale prices are currently low, a falling pound may drive up commodity prices.

“With recent events there is a lot of uncertainty about what is going to hit everybody – even those that are in the know,” says Tobin.

“It would be fair to say that a lot of people don’t know what is around the corner.”

Hipperson agrees. He thinks the move to bring more businesses into half-hourly metering and settlement under P272 legislation could have the most dramatic impact.

“P272 will expose more businesses to red band distribution network charges,” he says. “Once you start showing people that they are using 6% of their energy in the red band but it is accounting for 40% of their energy costs, that’s when it hits home that some kind of management strategy is the first line of defence.

“Shifting demand, managing your energy, upgrading your assets and engaging your staff all starts with energy management, which is a key identifier from the Esos projects.” te

June/July 2016

19

GAS & ELECTRICITY

Procurement and energy managers need better tools for a changing job Utilidex co-founders Richard Brys and Mike McCloskey speak to Tim McManan-Smith about why the changing landscape of energy management requires a system to join all the dots

E

nergy management is changing. In the past there were energy managers, predominantly engineers, tasked with helping an organisation to reduce its energy consumption. Then there were procurement professionals who, often as part of a wider remit, purchased energy. The energy professional is increasingly being asked to

become both these things – and more. As well as being able to manage energy consumption, they have to construct business cases, understand financial imperatives and be fluent in communication and marketing to bring the broader workforce onside. Then they have to navigate complex data in order to comply with numerous rules and regulations – and become perfect timekeepers in order

to keep up with paperwork.

Finding individuals with such diverse skillsets is not always possible, leading to a team aproach. But the left hand does not always know what the right hand is doing.

Utilidex thinks it can solve that problem. CEO and co-founder Richard Brys outlines key drivers behind a changing landscape – and the challenges posed to businesses:

Utilidex says a smarter approach is needed in an increasingly complex industry

20 June/July 2016

• A market shift, from central generation, to more distributed and intermittent generation • This leads to a two-tier market (surplus in summer, constraint in winter), plus also more intra-day volatility (creating cost risk but also opportunities to arbitrage) • Emerging technologies, as the energy world (storage, batteries etc) meets the

Sponsored column

joined-up system allows a more holistic approach to energy procurement and management.

In procurement, for instance, This creates significant it gives an actual understanding opportunities for energy of the total costs rather than managers and their employers, just the wholesale trading price. says Brys. But they have More granular data allows an to bring together more end-user to look at what their “moving parts” than ever.

TPI is doing; did they buy at Those moving parts, as with the right time and on the right the energy management curve. Did the customer function, are not get the best execution always aligned. of the task? This Brys says The is visible in a Hub, created simple and

by Utilidex, intuitive format, unites these The number of according disparate generators in the to Brys. functions “Name a whether they UK – a big downside of are in different change this approach?” locations around he says. “How the country or much better would it be if world or all in one office. everybody was on the same The platform is intended page? This is all possible to help firms buy, sell and today and seemlessly too.” manage energy: Utilidex is able to gather the data CSR and the boardroom required for energy efficiency, Having all organisational bill validation, forecasting, data available in an easy to budgeting and procurement. use format means that boards On validation, for are able to plot a pathway to instance, director and coa lower carbon business. founder Mike McCloskey When they were asked says that the software is able why there appears to be a to perform bill validation shift change towards a more before the bill is produced. integrated approach to energy “This is better than the current management occurring methods which can include now, Brys and McCloskey 40 phone calls or 50 emails. suggested that this was due The system can let the supplier to generational change. know, for example, how much “There is more expectation PV is being used and allow the and more demand for better supplier to remain in balance. outcomes from technology This has a financial advantage and software,” says Brys. to the supplier which the user “I was taken aback to can benefit from,” he says. read that if we include Participating in demandPV installations there are side response (DSR) activities one million generation also becomes less complex units and with much more via the hub as it provides live distributed generation to data to inform decisions. come it’s clear distributed generation is here to stay.” te Joined-up thinking utilidex.com Brys says the benefits of a connected world (cloud, big data, machine learning, IoT

Has low carbon energy had its day?

1m

What are the wins of doing this? What does it help you do differently when all on the same page? theenergyst.com theenergyst.com

By John Dallimore, head of origination, ScottishPower ScottishPower is proud to be at the forefront of the renewable energy industry. We are committed to investing in low carbon energy and supporting our commercial customers in doing so.

The UK government has recently made a raft of policy changes, impacting the industry, leaving many asking – has low carbon energy had its day?

From our perspective, and in short, no. Low carbon energy is more important now, than ever.

However, the industry is constantly evolving; be that in terms of new technologies, public perception or indeed, government policy.

Last year, these amendments to prominent low carbon energy initiatives undoubtedly had an impact. Such measures included the closure of the renewable obligation subsidy for onshore wind farms; the removal of the Climate Change Levy for renewable energy; and the postponement of the next Contracts for Difference auction for large renewables projects. Despite this, there are still many benefits for commercial customers looking to utilise low carbon energy.

In the UK, listed companies must report their greenhouse gas emissions and all businesses are under pressure to reduce their carbon footprints. The

green options, available through intermediaries, provide practical solutions that also benefit a company’s CSR and public image.

Going green is popular with consumers, who are increasingly aware of climate change and supportive of conscientious companies.

Despite its policy changes, the UK government remains committed to reducing carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. At ScottishPower we are doing our bit to make this happen, through investment in wind farms. Under the existing renewable obligation, eight additional onshore wind farm projects, representing some 450MW of capacity, will bring our total wind capacity to more than 2,000MW. We are also investing a further £2.6bn to construct the 714MW East Anglia offshore wind farm.

This is because we understand the need to drive green energy capabilities forward and know that ‘going green’ will remain popular with businesses and consumers.

That’s why we are working to lead the field and embrace low carbon energy. And, of course, we want to take you with us.

For information on the low carbon energy services available for ScottishPower commercial energy customers, please visit: scottishpower.co.uk/ commercial-business

GAS & ELECTRICITY

Power-to-gas solutions New technologies can help fix fundamental flaws with sustainable energy sources, as Viessmann managing director Graham Russell explains

I

n this emerging era of sustainable energy, we face two fundamental technical challenges for power generation.

One of these is the current inability to store energy harnessed from wind turbines and solar PV when there is an overabundance of wind or sun, such that energy supply exceeds demand. The other is the risk of inadequate energy provision from wind turbines or solar PV when weather conditions aren’t favourable.

Just recently, however, realworld experience has shown an innovative concept, power-togas (P2G), can help solve these problems. The gas produced by this process can be used as a low-carbon option for gas heating in CHP units to turn back into electricity and local heat and even as a fuel available at garage forecourts for cars. This enables surplus wind and solar energy to be used regardless of where or when it is produced.

Viessmann, an international manufacturer of heating, cooling and climate control technology, is currently investigating a trial of power-to-gas technology in the UK. In Germany, Viessmann’s power-to-gas plant is already helping to loadbalance the supply and demand of the public power grid, as well as producing in partnership with Audi an environmentally friendly fuel for cars.

Scaleable technology Given the scale of the UK’s gas distribution network, we have then the world’s largest energy storage system, which is already built and in place. The power-to-gas process is also an upgrading technology for raw biogas supplied by biogas and sewage plants, with a much reduced level of investment, since transformers are often already in place, as well as connections to the gas grid.

As a scalable technology, it is ideal for absorbing fluctuating

Power-to-gas; a game changer? energy quantities due to its high degree of flexibility.

Another benefit of powerto-gas is that it is easily transportable over long distances, and in many parts of the world the gas infrastructure is more accessible than the power infrastructure. To give one local example, the existing gas infrastructure in the North Sea could be used to transfer gas from wind power to the UK’s shores. Or in Germany, where the existing power infrastructure might be unable to transport wind energy from turbines in the north to industrial plants in

Storing excess power in the Grid

Viessmann’s power-to-gas technology uses wind and solar electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen by means of electrolysis. The hydrogen is then combined with carbon dioxide from a neighbouring biogas plant and converted, using a microbiological process, into methane gas. The methane may then be fed into the natural gas grid for later use, or used on site.

22 June/July 2016

the south, the gas infrastructure already connecting these regions can transmit gas from wind power. This flexibility could one day also enable interconnectivity between grids and indeed between the power supplies of different nations.

Such technology is needed not only to combat climate change by reducing consumption of fossil fuels but because the UK government is legally committed to achieve at least 15 per cent of final energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020. And even when this target is met, the pressure won’t subside: the Climate Change Act requires net UK carbon emissions by 2050 to be at least 80% lower than the 1990 baseline. No surprise, then, that the government sees so-called ‘green gas’ as a means of decarbonising the gas grid.

Balancing and storage During a speech last year, energy secretary Amber Rudd stated that “locally generated energy supported by storage, interconnection and demand response offers the possibility of a radically different model [to energy supply]”. She also said: “In the same way generators should pay the cost of pollution, we also want intermittent generators to be responsible for the pressures

Sponsored column

they add to the system when the wind does not blow or the sun does not shine… We are also looking at removing regulations that are holding back smart solutions, such as demandside response and storage.”

The government echoed these sentiments in this year’s Spring Budget by saying it accepts National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) recommendations that “the UK should become a world leader in electricity storage systems”. It also said that Ofgem “should incentivise network owners to use storage in order to improve capacity and resilience”.

These comments have followed revelations that the National Grid would have to curtail wind generation during minimum demand periods (the summer) to help balance the system. Independent research published last year in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy showed producing hydrogen from electricity can reduce wind curtailment and decrease the overall cost of operating the British gas and electricity networks, since they would no longer have to stop generating.

At a time of dwindling oil and gas reserves in the North Sea, and with a gap to be left by coal-fired power stations coming off-system in 2025, power-to-gas would also have the important strategic benefit of improving energy security.

Capabilities are being proven At Viessmann’s head office factory in Allendorf, 80 miles north of Frankfurt, the methane produced by power-to-gas is being fed back into Germany’s natural gas grid. This is the latest development in a strategic sustainability project at Allendorf known as Efficiency Plus, which has also introduced energy-optimised production plants and processes, consistent heat recovery and improved thermal insulation of buildings.

This combination of measures has reduced the consumption

theenergyst.com theenergyst.com

of fossil fuels by 60% and cut CO2 emissions by 80%.

Viessmann recently officially opened the new power-togas pilot plant at Allendorf, in partnership with car manufacturer Audi, which will also produce e-gas for fuelling cars. Audi e-gas is ideally suited as a fuel for combustion engines and is available at more than 650 fuel stations in Germany.

Following the introduction of the Audi A3 Sportback g-tron in 2014, a second e-gas model, the A4 Avant g-tron, will be launched in Europe at the end of this year.

Both models can also run on gasoline, conventional natural gas and biomethane. With the sustainably produced e-gas, the amount of CO2 emitted during vehicle operation is equal to the amount that is chemically bound to produce the fuel, meaning that the cars can be driven climate-neutrally.

As with power-to-gas, the Viessmann/Audi e-gas process has two key process steps, electrolysis and methanation.

Unlike Audi’s e-gas plant in Werlte, which uses a chemicalcatalytic process under high pressure and high temperature, the methanation process at Allendorf, which is entirely biological, runs under a moderate amount of pressure and at relatively low temperatures. It directly processes the carbon dioxide contained in the raw biogas, meaning the CO2 doesn’t need to be present in high concentration or purified form. This is significant because it increases the areas where the technology can be applied. Smaller sewage treatment and biogas plants, in which no biogas purification is performed, can now also be considered as CO2 sources.

So whether it is environmentally friendly gas for heating, power to make electricity or power to propel vehicles, power-to-gas is heading into our everyday lives, and for very good reasons. te viessmann.co.uk

National Grid fires up further interest in DSR A year on from the launch of its Power Responsive campaign, system operator National Grid held a second annual conference to encourage more businesses to embrace the opportunities in demand side response (DSR).

The event brought together more than 200 businesses, energy experts and policy makers to debate the crucial issues around the drive towards a more flexible energy system.

With some business customers still confused over products and potential risk to their business, the conference, called Practical Next Steps for Business Customers, set out to answer those concerns and fire up further participation.

Among the headlines and advice from the day were: • Phil Graham, from the National Infrastructure Commission, who outlined the value of a more flexible system. A fresh focus on demand flexibility, storage and interconnection could save consumers £8bn a year, he said.

And if the UK could meet 5% of its peak generation needs by demand flexibility, it would be equivalent to the capacity of a nuclear power station.

• Businesses which are already participating, such as Anglian Water Services, told delegates that DSR is not just for large businesses. Anyone with reasonable demand and a halfhourly metered site, they said, could benefit.

• National Grid’s Paul Lowbridge repeated the significant opportunities available in DSR,

both through the cost savings associated with avoiding peak demand and the revenue that can be generated.

• Yoav Zingher from KiWi Power reiterated the huge potential for DSR, noting that the routes to market are simple. While he felt no product individually makes an entirely compelling business case, aggregators could help, he said, by knitting together a more valuable portfolio of products.

As the conference closed, National Grid director Cordi O’Hara concluded that Power Responsive had started to tackle some of the barriers to DSR participation, including raising customer awareness and developing a shared commitment to achieve flexibility.

The campaign now moves into its second year and will focus on the following: 1. Continue to engage customers on opportunities in flexibility markets.

2. Support the role of aggregators and third parties to increase confidence in the ‘sell’ of flexibility, and ensure information is produced which gives customers and investors confidence.

3. Help to progress the evolution of flexibility markets through short-term improvements and the longer-term changes that need to be made.

You can keep in touch with Power Responsive by joining its mailing list at powerresponsive.com or its LinkedIn Power Responsive group, or email the team at powerresponsive@ nationalgrid.com

What is Power Responsive?

A stakeholder-led programme of work – driven by National Grid – to stimulate increased participation in the different forms of flexible technology. A key priority is to turn participation in DSR by industrial and commercial businesses into a mainstream opportunity by 2020.

DEMAND-SIDE RESPONSE

Why you need to attend our DSR conference The next couple of years will be a bumpy ride for businesses. Those that can access the flexibility in their assets and operations will insulate themselves from volatility and rising costs

N

on-energy parts of your electricity bill will increase sharply during the next few years. Levies to support renewable generation, combined with levies to balance that renewable generation and ensure security of supply, will start to become more significant from next winter.

Changes to the balancing and settlement regime will make half-hourly prices spikier. Transmission charges (Triads) are set to increase by more than 10% the year after next, according to analysis by energy companies.

Many more businesses are also being moved to half-hourly metering and settlement this year, meaning more companies will be exposed to peak charging.

Meanwhile, thermal plant closures have diminished National Grid’s ability to

balance the power system using spinning reserve.

Reduced inertia requires increased demand-side participation. In other words, there is an opportunity to reduce costs and generate income for businesses that provide balancing services – turning equipment on or off, up or down, when required.

Or there is increased price risk for passive energy consumers. It is worth noting that National Grid recently said it expected balancing costs to double from £1bn per year to £2bn within five years.

While wholesale power costs are low, the non-energy parts of the bill now make up about half of the total – and they will rise for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, shrinking capacity margins could add to wholesale power price volatility, presenting both an opportunity and a threat to businesses.

Give us your views on demand-side response We are asking readers to give us their views on demandside response via a short survey. We simply want to know whether or not you participate, what your experiences are and what policymakers could do to increase market participation. Your answers will form the research component of a new demand-side response report.

Please take five minutes to complete the survey at: www.theenergyst.com

Shrinking capacity margins could add to wholesale power price volatility, presenting both an opportunity and a threat to businesses

Those factors make it good time to find out more about demand-side response.

National Grid, Decc, energy suppliers, aggregators and industrial and commercial end-users will outline the opportunities for businesses at the DSR Event on 8 September in London. It is free to firms wishing to find out how they can provide balancing services. te Reserve your seat at dsrevent.uk

Ofgem: Power flexibility will become more important than energy efficiency The value of flexibility within the power system could increase tenfold over the coming years according to Ofgem’s Andrew Wright. The regulator’s senior partner for energy systems believes flexibility will ultimately become more valuable than energy efficiency within the energy system.

Speaking at National Grid’s Power Responsive conference in June, Wright said that the “real value is in [businesses’] flexibility. That value is going to increase, maybe by an order of magnitude.”

24 June/July 2016

Failing to capitalise on flexibility would require step changes in technology to decarbonise the power system, Wright suggested.

“Without flexibility, you have to hope we can crack carbon capture and storage,” said Wright. “If we can’t, you wonder where cheap flexibility is going to come from.”

However, he acknowledged commercial challenges within demandside response markets.

“There are a lot of parallels with

energy efficiency. You are asking people to invest in something that has uncertain value going forward.”

But he said that, as with energy efficiency, flexible power consumption would become the norm.

“Today, you wouldn’t dream of building a supermarket without thinking about energy efficiency,” said Wright.

Flexibility, he added, would follow the same path to maturity “and [ultimately] become more valuable than energy efficiency”.

theenergyst.com

Advertorial

DEMAND-SIDE RESPONSE

Demand-side response (DSR) – effective or non-effective for UK businesses?

There has been much speculation as to whether or not the Demand-side response (DSR) scheme introduced to help the UK manage energy demand more efficiently has been effective for UK businesses

W

many organisations who have not been contacted by energy suppliers and aggregators about these DSR opportunities. There is still a vast amount of UK business not involved in any type of DSR programme.

In general the DSR market is still relatively small.

Although the capacity does look set to secure enough supply to meet the needs of UK business, work needs to be done to make the process more efficient and satisfy a greater proportion of the UK’s energy trilemma; Security of supply, environmental sustainability and affordability.

ith DSR, UK businesses are rewarded financially if they assist the National Grid by managing how and when they use their electricity supply.

DSR is a voluntary scheme; therefore UK businesses are not obliged to adjust their electricity supply.

The effective argument If usage is adjusted, this will help businesses reduce their network charges. In addition it is designed to protect energy sites, giving added security of supply. The scheme also promotes sustainability; therefore we should see a reduction in carbon emissions and a potential increase in renewable generation.

According to a recent case study by National Grid, companies such as Sainsbury’s, United Utilities and Transport are benefiting

from the demand-side response scheme. The study states that the DSR scheme is helping United Utilities to reduce their energy costs, as well as helping them generate 18 per cent of their own electricity through biomass and other renewable sources.

The non-effective argument Recent reports have revealed that there are still

With DSR, UK businesses are rewarded financially if they assist the National Grid by managing how and when they use their electricity supply

The future of demandside response It is very apparent that DSR is still a small market and needs more organisations to be more active. More information needs to be provided to businesses along with more efficient price signals etc, to help businesses make the right decisions. te

For further information on DSR opportunities available to you, contact BIU on 01524 789816 or email procurement@biu.com

theenergyst.com

August/September 2014

25

DEMAND-SIDE RESPONSE

Enhanced response for DSR National Grid will tender two enhanced frequency response specifications this July

E

nhanced frequency response (EFR) will become the fastest form of frequency response, with providers delivering 100% of power output in a second or less.

That is an order of magnitude faster than current primary frequency response.

For this tender, Nationl Grid has decided to create two envelopes to manage different scenarios: EFR providers will bid for contracts with a ±0.05Hz frequency insensitive band or ±0.015Hz. Providers must be able to meet a minimum Megawatts National delivery Grid aims to procure duration of The online 15 minutes. tender will in tender round National Grid run from 11-15 expects that the July with bidders majority of providers required to post £2k/ could deliver the wider band MW per site as a bond. The to help balance the system minimum bid is 1MW and when inertia and demand is the maximum bid 50MW. low, such as in the summer.

All bidders must have a However, the narrower connection agreement or offer band service has value all that matches the tendered MW year round and becomes and that would be complete more valuable when within 18 months of contract. inertia is high, such as Independent connections during the winter peak, providers say they have noted according to Nationl Grid. a marked increase in enquiries The system operator as a result of the tender. aims to procure around Proper construction 200MW in this tender round, contracts and funding which it believes in some arrangements must also be in scenarios could displace place for bids to be considered, other primary balancing according to Nationl Grid. services by much more than Some 64 companies are 200MW. Nationl Grid could prequalified to bid for the four eventually procure a gigawatt year contracts after Nationl of EFR, possibly more.

Grid received 74 submissions The auction is technology late last year. Thirty one agnostic but it looks likely companies/developers made that the majority of EFR their intentions public. These will come from batteries. are: Abbey Power Group,

200

26 June/July 2016

AES, Arenko Cleantech, BELECTRIC Solar, Camborne Energy Storage, Delta Electronics Europe, EdF Energy Renewables, Engie, Gaelectric, GBSL, Highview, Intelligent Energy Saving Company, Kinetic Traction, KiWi Power, Limejump, Low Carbon Mutual Energy (Moyle), Next Energy Capital, Open Energi, Origami Energy, Sun and Soil, PassivSystems, Peak Gen Power, Progressive Energy, Reactive Technologies, RES, RWE, Sterling Power,

The auction is technology agnostic but it looks likely that the majority of EFR will come from batteries

TGC Renewables, UK Power Networks and Vattenfall Europe Innovation.

Meanwhile, Nationl Grid is still trying to drum up interest for its new demand turn-up service. Director Cordi O’Hara said in June that the system operator sought to procure 300MW. So far, it has around 200MW of provision signed up following several calls to market.

Demand turn-up pays companies to increase power use. It is one of the ways National Grid aims to balance intermittent renewable generation. Rather than paying wind and solar farms to stop exporting to the grid, it believes it can achieve better value by paying businesses to use the excess power.

Results of the auction will be published 26 August with services to be delivered for winter 2017/18.

National Grid recently held an Enhanced Frequency Response seminar outlining further details, which can be found at: http://www2. nationalgrid.com/EnhancedFrequency-Response.aspx. te National Grid is the principle sponsor of a report and conference The Energyst is producing on demand-side response (DSR). We need businesses’ views on demandside response, loadshifting and whether they are investing in energy storage for the research component of the report.

Please take our short survey at theenergyst.com. The report will be launched at the DSR Event on 8 September in London. There are free places for businesses. Reserve your seat at dsrevent.com

theenergyst.com

DEMAND-SIDE RESPONSE

Foundry earns income through frequency response United Cast Bar is benefitting from the adoption of firm frequency response – and has not yet actually had to do anything to earn revenue from National Grid

U

sing firm frequency response (FFR), a revenue-generating scheme that forms part of the National Grid’s broad demand-side response portfolio, United Cast Bar, a foundry producing up to 45,000 tonnes of continuous cast iron bar annually, has started to generate revenue for the firm.

Facilitated by Endeco Technologies, aggregator of smart grid optimisation solutions, the move is already yielding a revenue for this forward-thinking foundry, a sum that could conceivably rise further in the future.

With its own distribution network in Europe, Chesterfield-based United Cast Bar is a major player in the continuous cast iron bar market, offering from 25 to 700 mm round continuous cast iron bar, square bar up to 550 mm, and section up to 750 x 550 mm. Approximately 90% of the foundry’s output is exported, 80% to EU countries.

Despite its success in the marketplace, the company’s managing director James Brand is always on the lookout for additional revenue streams, and upon discovering a little about FFR decided to investigate further.

“We are members of the Cast Metals Federation [CMF] and I recall seeing some posts on LinkedIn relating to FFR,” he explains.

“I dug a little deeper and it seemed like a good way for United Cast Bar to earn extra income in a manageable format.”

28 June/July 2016

High rewards In simple terms, FFR is the generation or removal of sufficient load from the National Grid to stabilise frequency. The Grid is prepared to pay such high rewards as it has an obligation to ensure that sufficient generation and/or demand is held in automatic readiness to manage all credible circumstances that might result in frequency variations.

To ensure the success of such schemes, the National Grid offers those that participate the potential to earn extra income from assets by automatically adjusting power consumption in real time.

The financial and operational benefits for participating companies can be very significant, with sums of up to £70,000 achievable for every megawatt of average Sums achievable for onsite energy every megawatt of management consumption average onsite energy team, Brand saved. This consumption decided to is in return for saved set the process around six (on in motion. average) ‘turn-down’ events per year, lasting for a Optimised returns maximum of 30 minutes each.

Endeco Technologies is a “The opportunity to National Grid-approved earn sums like this for a aggregator that can help controlled risk meant I was businesses such as United prepared to take it to the Cast Bar to make the right next stage, and the CMF put choices and optimise returns. me in touch with Endeco In addition, it takes care of Technologies,” says Brand. the necessary hardware and The company duly software installation, as well responded with a visit and as the online monitoring and delivered an informative reaction systems, and the daypresentation. After further to-day running of the system. discussions with his

£70k

If the power is cut on our melt furnaces for 30 minutes we simply lose a few degrees of temperature. It won’t take long to make this up upon restart

Sponsored column

All of this is provided without any capex requirement, with the aggregator taking a share of the scheme pay-out instead.

“We agreed a certain amount of contract flexibility with Endeco Technologies, including our preference to amortise the hardware and software over the first two months,” says Brand.

“This meant that by the third month we would be generating the full income.”

It was decided that United Cast Bar’s two main Inductotherm melt furnaces would be suitable assets to shut down during an FFR event. Furnaces are the most energy-intensive items at any foundry and it was estimated that this would provide an average available load of 1.972 MW for the FFR Service. On receiving a control signal, the melt furnaces will be turned off within 10 seconds. After 30 minutes, Endeco’s platform will release the control signal and the furnaces can be restarted automatically following the required sequence.

“For peace of mind, we contacted Inductotherm, which came in to check that its equipment would be compatible,” says Brand. “If we don’t have our melting furnaces we might as well close the business, so it was imperative we explored every potential for problems.

However, Inductotherm gave us the all clear and we happily moved forwards.”

Monthly payments The installation of the system hardware and software was successfully completed early in 2016 and United Cast Bar went live in February.

“Interestingly, we have not yet had an FFR event,” says Brand. “Clearly, I’m not complaining about this as the scheme dictates that we continue to receive our monthly payments regardless, simply for scheme

theenergyst.com theenergyst.com

participation. However, I’ve been made aware that FFR occurs only around five or six times a year on average, which we can live with. If the power is cut on our melt furnaces for 30 minutes we simply lose a few degrees of temperature. It won’t take long to make this up upon restart.

In addition, we have a manual override option if for any reason there is a health and safety issue or other concern.”

United Cast Bar has already been receiving its monthly FFR payments. As a result, annual revenue is in line with original forecasts set out by Endeco, although Brand says this could rise in line with any increase in production volumes.

“There are other benefits too,” he adds. “For instance, Endeco has created a personalised optimisation dashboard that presents data such as energy consumption, which is great for our own energy and asset management plans.”

Futureproof solution Another important reason for selecting Endeco Technologies was the offer of a futureproof platform. As response schemes are always likely to change over time, participating companies must be technology-ready to access more financially attractive tariffs.

The company says its advanced platform makes switching easy to facilitate.

Indeed, more than 100 sites moved from frequency control by demand management (FCDM) to FFR overnight when latter scheme was released by the National Grid in July 2015.

“It’s still early days but I know Endeco’s team is currently busy generating a usage profile for United Cast Bar, and it may be possible to get even more return from other schemes in the future,” concludes Brand. te endeco-technologies.com

Building (the right) demand response strategy It is true to say that all major power consumers have some understanding of demand response (DR). However, it’s also true that a quarter of organisations still find it difficult to translate market information into something they can maximise benefit from.

Many industrial and commercial consumers have not reviewed their DR strategy in the past two years; a time during which the market has transformed significantly, therefore many consumers have not moved away from traditional programmes like STOR and FCDM. This means earning revenues far below those which are now available from the DR market, and continuing to operate in programmes that cause more impact on day-to-day business operations. So, why continue on the same track when you could participate in higher paying, less disruptive reserves like many others?

As an established DR provider, REstore delivers the know-how necessary to maximise the financial benefit from DR while minimising business impact. To ensure this, we only employ industrial experts who know what it means to run an intensive

“Demand response has progressed in the past two years – have you?” energy consuming business.

This has resulted in REstore having the largest portfolio of megawatts participating in National Grid’s Firm Frequency Response programme and these industrial and commercial consumers benefit from reduced exposure and higher availability of flexible power due to REstore’s ‘portfolio effect’.

As the only aggregator securing revenues in the open market (which has a 10MW entry threshold) REstore delivers revenues greater than those in bilateral agreements and has the ability to trade and increase prices further as the portfolio grows.

It’s time to join the REstore community and re-evaluate what the right DR strategy can really do for your business. Visit REstore.eu to find out more.

VIEWPOINT

Energy efficiency has a crucial role to play A step change in behaviour is needed at every level of the organisation to realise the potential savings from energy efficiency, believes Energy Institute chief executive Louise Kingham

T

he UK energy system requires significant transformation to meet future demand and global emissions targets.

In the Energy Institute Energy Barometer 2016 report, EI members surveyed stated that, by 2030, energy efficiency improvements and reduced demand will help to jumpstart this transformation.

Energy efficiency improvements since 1990 have saved the equivalent of 30 years of UK primary demand at 2014 levels (DUKES 2015).

These efforts have also avoided 10 gigatons of CO2 emissions – almost a third of global annual emissions (IPCC 5th Assessment Report 2014).

However, low oil prices are perceived to stifle growth across the entire energy sector, not just in oil and gas but also in reducing the imperative for energy efficiency. This need not be that way. Although, for the time being, some forms of energy are cheap, there is always a good argument for improving efficiency. We are very far from running out of things to do when it comes to managing our energy use more efficiently.

Behaviour change Behaviour change is an area of particular interest to energy managers and organisations.

It is often seen to offer the greatest potential for achieving short-term gains in managing energy but many consider it as a difficult nut to crack. Bearing this in mind, the EI has spent the past 12 months focusing

30 June/July 2016

on improving practices by engaging more proactively with a wide range of stakeholders.

The EI’s Behaviour Change working group, a subcommittee of the EI Energy Management Panel, brings together energy management consultants, psychologists, and change specialists. Their aim is to develop cross-disciplinary approaches to changing energy and environmental behaviours, share best practice and make real change. A preliminary workshop was held alongside the EI’s Energy Efficiency conference in January 2016, and the working group is currently planning more events, including a 100-day challenge to implement behaviour change programmes in organisations.

Essential guide In May, the EI published An essential guide to energy management, which represents an excellent foundation for anyone wanting to develop their understanding of energy

management practice and improve their organisation’s energy efficiency performance.

The guide provides an introduction to energy management that makes it an ideal resource for anyone new to the sector. It is also particularly useful for energy managers to circulate among colleagues as part of a staff energy awareness campaign, and can be used as a starting point for developing a company’s energy policy.

Additionally, the EI is currently working on developing a new tool, Understanding your energy culture, using the Hearts and Minds framework originally developed to improve safety culture and performance in high hazard industries. The toolkit, currently being piloted, is structured around an in-house workshop involving both those directly responsible for energy management and those using energy as part of their dayto-day business activities.

The materials provided

There’s still scope for improvements in energy efficiency

enable users to assess where the organisation is in terms of effective energy management.

The results form a basis for honest appraisal and, while people submit their assessment individually and anonymously, the overall picture is shared and discussed. Often this initial conversation highlights simple measures that are already in place that they just aren’t aware of, or helps identify energy and environmental champions within the organisation who can take on a more active role.

There have been renewed efforts to assess efficiency within large UK businesses in the past few years with the introduction of the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (Esos). Now that those assessments have been submitted, the onus is on those organisations to implement the recommendations. Part of the shift in energy efficiency has been in making senior managers more accountable, with Esos assessments having to be signed off by the board. But the responsibility for managing energy doesn’t stop there.

The energy transformation required isn’t just about new infrastructure and switching to lower carbon resources, a step change in behaviour is also needed at every level of the organisation. Energy efficiency can reduce costs, cut emissions and increase productivity. We need everyone to play their part and each contribution is one more step on the road to a more sustainable energy system. te energyinst.org

theenergyst.com

WE’VE INVESTED TO BRING YOU PREMIUM-FREE GREEN ENERGY Keeping customers’ costs down We’re covering the additional expense

Our DONG Energy mission Our ongoing mission at DONG Energy is to develop

associated with ‘going green’, to help our customers achieve their sustainability ambitions. 100% renewable electricity is now available at no extra cost.

and enable energy systems that are green, independent and economically viable.

Sustainable choices without penalty It’s our belief that businesses of all sizes and budgets should be able to choose electricity from renewable sources, without commercial disadvantage.

Better energy future Removing price barriers makes green energy the obvious choice; as we all work towards a cleaner, more sustainable energy future.

www.dongenergy.co.uk/energyforbusiness @dongbusiness

One piece of the sustainability puzzle Premium-free green energy is just one way we’re helping businesses to make sustainable choices.

Our Flexibility Solutions can also help your business take a fresh, cost effective approach to energy management, whilst earning money through flexibility.

To find out more about our Green Energy offer, as well as our Flexibility Solutions, please visit www.dongenergy.co.uk

VIEWPOINT

The hidden benefits of LED lighting for businesses Craig Astfalck provides an insight into the tangible yet not so obvious benefits of LED lighting upgrades that go beyond the financial

L

ED lighting provides organisations with the ability to remove more than 60% of their operational lighting costs just on the efficiency gains that the technology offers. This economic fact drives almost all LED investment business cases with environmental savings becoming a by-product of the resulting project.

The drawback on a single metric for measuring the payback, ie the financial return of investment based on energy savings, is it does not capture the other benefits that can be accrued and provide further justification for the business case.

The benefits from LED lighting upgrades can be categorised in to four key areas:

The environmental benefit of greenhouse gas reduction is well documented, with up to 70% reduction in typical LED projects. However, what is not as readily documented is the elimination of mercury from buildings

32 June/July 2016

Financial benefits Commercially mature and reliable LED lighting projects should now be providing a 50% to 65% annual rate of return.

The rate of return uses the capital costs less the energy and maintenance savings. The main variable is in the amount of hours per week the system is being used (168 hours per week for a 24/7 operation to as little as 60 for a single shift Monday to Friday operation).

Another cost saving is in the reduction of spare stock required due to the increased life-span of LED systems. This not only includes quantity but also variation in types of fittings.

An example of this is one industrial user who, through switching to LED lighting, has

reduced 15 variants of light fittings/fixtures down to four, eliminating an estimated ÂŁ4,000 of redundant spare parts.

Occupational benefits There are many standards based on countless hours of research as to the optimum level, colour rendition and colour temperature of light depending on functional requirements.

LED lighting can provide an unexpected benefit in the ability to standardise both colour rendition and colour temperature.

This comes into its own in industrial environments where there can be up to four different colour rendition indexes (CRI) in a single area. Each ‘lighting function’ may be very different: high bays at 30CRI, mezzanine lighting at 60CRI, task lighting at 80CRI and inspection lighting at 90CRI. A typical industrial user can reduce this to 80CRI for all but inspection lighting.

This provides a uniform level that people do not have to visually adjust to as they move around the area. This can also have an added benefit with some anecdotal evidence of staff not feeling as tired after a shift with the new LED lighting in place.

Two other occupational benefits are the elimination of ultra violet (UV) radiation and light flicker. The latter benefit is particularly beneficial for those who have high photosensitivity.

Environmental benefits The environmental benefit of greenhouse gas reduction is well documented with

Sponsored column

up to 70% reduction in typical LED projects.

However, what is not as readily documented is the elimination of mercury from buildings. Most lighting systems, especially fluorescent lamps, contain Mercury vapour.

This can be up to 5mg per average 1,200mm T8 tube.

Upgrading a typical facility may result in eliminating 50g of mercury from the site.

As part of many projects delivered, for example where an environmental system is in place, users need to quantify the resulting waste stream of the installation (packaging, obsolescent fittings/ ballasts and old lamps) as well as forecasting the future waste stream due to ongoing maintenance.

With LED lighting, the ongoing waste stream is typically reduced by at least 50% and in some cases as much as 80%.

Quality benefits One benefit that may not be directly attributed to LED technology specifically but that can be observed due to the change in lighting is an increase in production quality.

This is pervasive in the industrial sector as lighting levels and lighting quality is siginificantly increased.

For example, after a recent LED lighting upgrade a manufacturer achieved a reduction of 18% in downstream defects in a manufacturing

process. This was directly attributable to an LED Lighting project in which the lighting levels remained the same but the colour rendition increased and the colour temperature moved up from natural to daylight.

A second example, as already mentioned in the occupational section is the perceived increase in productivity due to the reduction in flicker and standarisation in colour rendition and colour temperature across a facility.

Conclusion For many organisations LED light is still viewed with trepidation due to its perceived infancy. The reality is that most major lighting manufacturers have quality products.

Now it is up to internal decision making processes within an organisation as to when they invest in LED lighting. This requires a robust business case that includes not only the financial benefits but also the other benefits that comes with a step-change technology.

For those that need to formalise this process, beginning with a trial that captures the results of each benefit: financial, occupational, environmental and, if able to, the quality improvements can help further justify the business case for implementation of LED lighting projects. te ukaee.org.uk

This article was written by Craig Astfalck (craig@ecopare. co.uk), founder and managing director of Ecopare, a practical energy management company (ecoapare.energy).

He is a certified energy auditor and an active general committee member at UKAEE. UKAEE is the UK chapter of the global energy management organisation, the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE), with its HQ in the US. UKAEE covers a range of expertise in the energy management and energy efficiency sectors. It delivers a range of technical focussed seminars and offers excellent networking opportunities for energy and sustainability professionals. It offers continued professional development opportunities for AEE certifications such as Certified Energy Manager, Certified Measurement and Verification Professional and Certified Energy Auditor.

Membership to the UKAEE is currently free. For more information on UKAEE or how to join, please visit ukaee.org.uk

theenergyst.com theenergyst.com

It’s the economy, stupid

How often does this happen to you? As a pro-active energy manager you have spoken with myriad potential suppliers, costed out energy reduction projects, decided on the most appropriate technologies to maximise reduction opportunities, calculated the potential financial savings and spent hours or even days writing the proposal – only for it be rejected when you put it forward for approval!

The team at Ignite Energy has seen this happen on numerous occasions to even the best energy managers. It has built its reputation on the ability to help create strong business cases to make large projects a reality.

Following discussions with the Energy Managers Association, the feedback we received was that board approval remains a constant challenge for many members who are trying to deliver tangible and repeatable savings within their operations. As a result Ignite Energy has been invited to create and present a Level 3 course module called ‘Accounting for Energy’ to assist in helping energy managers build a strong and robust business case for future investments – and most importantly demonstrate how to continually track and deliver successful financial outcomes within your business.

Although a well-designed and

effectively delivered energy reduction programme can be translated into benefits for CSR and environmental credentials, it must also stand the most rigorous of all analysis, namely that it make commercial sense for the business to invest.

Ignite Energy recognises this vital aspect and our focus is to link all stakeholder benefits so both board and management teams can see the true financial impacts delivered to the bottom line.

This includes the ability to manage accruals and budgets on a daily basis to ensure the business can see the financial benefits as and when these are delivered, at any time during the financial year, and turn energy into a truly controllable and accountable cost at site level across a large property portfolio.

Our initial courses are scheduled to take place on Wednesday 28 September and Wednesday 9 November with further courses to be run early in 2017 depending on demand.

Numbers will be capped at 10 delegates per session, so please book early to avoid disappointment. Venues will confirmed closer to course dates with the first session most likely to be in London.

Contact info: Rob@igniteenergy.co.uk T 0845 269 9517 M 07771 864690

VIEWPOINT

Where the smart money’s at Nick Keegan, vice-chair of the ESTA Energy Performance Contracting Group and business development lead at EEVS Insight, tells how energy services leaders meet with financiers to accelerate the energy performance contracting market

A

t Macquarie Group’s headquarters in the City of London on 27 June, the Energy Services and Technology Association’s Energy Performance Contracting Group (EPCG) launched an initiative to bring together energy services organisations with City consultancies, financiers, legal firms and insurers into an industry forum aimed at driving growth in this exciting space.

So often when we sit down with the energy services market to discuss the latest research from the Energy Efficiency Trends surveys the conversation ends in a cul de sac; consumers in one corner lament a lack of available finance, while the investors in the other exclaim that there are plenty of funds they are literally champing at the bit to mobilise, but with a shortage of suitably developed projects.

The fact is that an energy saving investment, at least one that is large enough to attract decent commercial finance terms, needs to bring together a wide range of skills and professions to work in harmony. Missing one or other member of the chorus means that many exciting opportunities lose the wind in their sails, reducing in size or ambition.

With this in mind the EPCG recently launched an initiative to bring together all these skills and professions under one association group; aiming to create an industry forum to foster this harmony, as well as a common voice

34 June/July 2016

Thousands of medium to largesized enterprises have been left holding lists of compelling energy efficiency measures that desperately need mobilisation

The Energy Performance Contracting Group (EPCG) is part of Esta – the country’s leading trade association for the energy services industry, which includes special groups for another market sectors, monitoring and metering, lighting and controls, independent energy consultants.

Energy performance contracting – sometimes known as the energy service company or Esco route – is often hailed as a key financial mechanism that can bring about transformational energy saving retrofit projects. Focusing on guaranteed or shared savings to generate a “bankable” return from the investment, this form is attractive to financiers and consumers alike. for policy makers and a one stop shop for consumers looking to drive larger and more ambitious energy efficiency initiatives.

Energy Efficiency Trends – a market research partnership between EEVS and Bloomberg New Energy Finance and supported by

Bellrock and Bird & Bird, provide a quarterly ‘state of the market’ report and four years of historical trends.

At Macquarie Group’s headquarters on 27 June, chair John Field of NativeHue and vice-chair Nick Keegan of EEVS set out the state of the EPC market

and the group’s key role in its future development.

Speakers from Decc, Macquarie (finance), Mott Macdonald (engineering), CMS Cameron McKenna LLP (legal), Vital Energi (Esco), EEVS (M&V) and independent commercial and procurement specialist Roger Simpson-Jones shared their perspectives and case studies.

This included an insight into the diverse professional team that delivered the Scottish government’s recently launched performance contracting framework (NDEE). The session concluded with a workshop, led by Rajvant Nijjhar of iVEES, to bring the various professions together to explore barriers and solutions to EPC market development.

Technical The energy services industry has grown out of good practice building services engineering developing ‘technical solutions’.

Now energy consultants identify the opportunities using the innovations of progressive technology suppliers. Surveyors, engineers, designers and project managers lead construction to realise these opportunities while metering and monitoring systems provide the necessary data for specification and for validation of the actions through measurement and verification of the delivered energy savings.

It’s not all metal and mortar though – behavioural change and control through ‘tech’ driven by data analysts and psychologists is increasingly playing a part.

Financial and commercial The technical solution alone however, is unlikely to trigger a large-scale project. This must be packaged into a compelling business case and financial model that speaks

theenergyst.com

the language of the financial and corporate directors.

Even the most switched on finance directors, though, will not have the time to focus on anything other than core business, so it is down to the investment community to create the financial products to channel funds into the most promising projects.

Contractual It goes without saying that with big sums of money sloshing around projects must be underpinned by robust procurement, legals and insurance all that must be familiar with the nuances of energy saving projects.

The timing could not be more pertinent; in the wake of the rush to Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (Esos) compliance thousands of medium to large-sized enterprises have been left holding lists of compelling energy efficiency measures that desperately need mobilisation.

At the same time the public sector has a renewed mandate to demonstrate carbon reduction leadership against the globally agreed consensus at COP 21. With the uncertainty following the referendum slashing share prices and with many expecting our impending EU exit to cause energy price inflation, now more than ever, it’s time to focus on energy efficiency and foster the right environment to make these projects happen.

So, if you are professional organisation or Esco involved in delivering ambitious energy services contracts I hope you will join us in this movement.

The group intends to meet again in six months and regularly thereafter.

If you are interested to find out more, to join the group or Esta please get in touch through: info@esta.org.uk te esta.org.uk

BUILDING CONTROLS The Lilacs International Commercial Centre demonstrates opportunities for smart buildings of the future

Making urban smart Shanghai building complex integrates a Siemens smart building management system

L

ilacs International Commercial Centre, completed in January 2016, is a landmark building in Shanghai’s Pudong business district and the latest addition to the world famous, futuristic Shanghai skyline.

This sweeping, state-ofthe-art complex integrates retail areas, commercial and office activity as well as a cultural centre. It is the first smart building complex in Shanghai to install a total Siemens building

36 June/July 2016

management system package.

The project scope demonstrates Siemens’ capabilities and opportunities for smart buildings of the future. The industry-leading smart technology delivers safety, security, comfort and reliability for tenants and occupants and also optimises the energy efficiency of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified centre.

The 150,000m2 building complex comprises two

towers, each with 32 floors, with extensive green spaces both inside and outside the complex.

Siemens has an established long-term strategic partnership with the developer and operator of the Commercial Centre, Shanghai Shanchuan Real Estate Co. This early involvement meant that Siemens was able to provide technical expertise during the design stage, and led to the decision to appoint Siemens as sole partner from

design to implementation with responsibility for the delivery of the entire building technology solution.

Lilacs International Commercial Centre now uses a complete Siemens building management system package incorporating integrated disciplines such as building automation, lighting, fire safety and security as well as low- to medium-voltage power distribution.

The project included the effective networking and

coordination of individual areas, defining specific scenarios and then testing suitable solution packages. This was followed by internal certification of the new solution packages to verify the error-free operation and seamless interoperability of the components, thus ensuring the reliability and stability of the operating systems for a wide variety of users.

The system operation, including monitoring and control, is managed from a central command centre featuring powerful analytics and reporting. Its cloud-based platform offers comprehensive monitoring of the building infrastructure and is an important tool to maximise its energy and operational efficiency.

Smart access control The smart energy automation ties the Siemens SiPass time tracking and access control system into the HVAC systems.

SiPass combines employee time tracking with reliable building security. In addition, SiPass can adjust energy consumption in the Lilacs office towers in a matter of seconds.

Li Hang, Shanghai Shanchuan Real Estate assistant general manager and head of engineering, explains: “When employees enter the building, for instance to get to their place of work, they activate the SiPass access control system from Siemens, which is installed throughout.

“As soon as employees have authenticated themselves using their chip card, the intelligent system not only knows which floor they want

to go to and calls the right elevator to automatically take them there – it also knows where energy will be consumed in the next few seconds.”

Comfort in the workplace Within the office environment, employees experience a comfortable and yet energyefficient room climate and optimum working environment.

Intelligent LED lighting systems ensure constant lighting control and biosensor lighting systems ensure lighting efficiencies in the office units.

A smart heating system delivers an economic warm water supply, and multiple integrated sensors constantly measure the rooms’ carbon dioxide concentration, temperature and humidity.

Cool air, hot air and fresh air are all adjustable in real time.

As the head of engineering at Shanghai Shanchuan, Hang is keen to push the boundaries and move further into Big Data territory. His goal is to turn the new business complex into a smart building that is able to generate its own predictions regarding energy consumption and user requirements.

“We aim to cut down on energy by an additional 12 to 18 percent by reducing the amount of energy that is repeatedly circulating in our systems,” Hang explains.

“It involves building a space-state model of the entire building and then performing analysis and real-time calculations in the backend databases.” te siemens.com

The intelligent system not only knows which floor they want to go to and calls the right elevator to automatically take them there – it also knows where energy will be consumed in the next few seconds theenergyst.com

VIEWPOINT

How to sell snake oil When it comes to energy saving products tht may not live up to their hype Vilnis Vesma has seen it all

W

hat is the best way to sell bogus energy-saving products?

One thing you need is a plausible scientific basis for your claims. For instance, you might be selling magnets to fit to fuel lines, in which case you could say for example that the magnetic field stabilises nanoparticles which otherwise would foul the boiler surfaces, or (one of my personal favourites) that it converts para- to ortho-hydrogen by flipping the electron spin of one of the hydrogen atoms.

It sounds scientific, and a sceptical reader will find references through Google; although you have to hope nobody twigs that most fuels don’t contain hydrogen molecules as such.

Fortunately, The fashionable most savings number – prospective not so impressive customers will not recollect but believable enough school science to challenge any pseudo-scientific assertions. In fact you can say things like “the thermostat will cut in less frequently, saving energy” or “the multiple layers of foil act as heat reflectors” and few people will spot the flaws.

Testimonials are good, and easy to obtain because nobody who has actually bought your One of the things product would admit that it that tips customers did not work, especially if they have spent a large amount of off is the suspicion their employer’s money on that you are it. So let your victims help claiming implausibly with your sales promotions. high savings Experts can equally be a

6%

38 June/July 2016

‘The multiple layers of foil act as heat reflectors’ nuisance, as we all know. You may find them challenging your science in online forums, but if so just dismiss them as “self-appointed” experts and castigate them for having closed minds: remind them that people used to think the Earth was flat. Meanwhile to defuse technical challenges in conferences and other live events, be sure that anyone presenting your product can say that they themselves are not a scientist.

One of the things that tips customers off is the suspicion that you are claiming implausibly high savings. You can understand that figures of 20-30% reduction from an unknown technology might be hard to

believe. That’s why 6% has become fashionable. It does not look so impressive but it does look believable – more believable, oddly, than 5%.

Independent verification is a growing threat but you can use it to your advantage.

Smart vendors mention the International Measurement and Verification Protocol in promotional literature, creating the impression that they have nothing to fear from independent scrutiny. Some go the extra mile and explain what adherence with IPMVP entails, making it look as disruptive and expensive as possible. This not only further reinforces the false impression of openness, it discourages buyers from actually bothering. Even if they do, it is not necessarily a problem. Randomness, experimental error, and flawed tests will occasionally throw up apparent successes which the verifier cannot find fault with.

Conceal the adverse results and publish the favourable ones (with the name of the verifier if they are certified).

Present the results as proving that the technology works in general. Hardly anybody knows that IPMVP is not supposed to be used for generic testing.

I mentioned before that lack of scientific awareness on the part of customers is very much to your advantage.

So under no circumstances point anyone towards the energy management training that I promote at vesma.com/ training or my free basic energy science course at EnManReg.org/science. te Vilnis Vesma is a former energy manager and a specialist in energy management

theenergyst.com

High EfďŹ ciency - Low Radiation - Modulating

Ranges from 8kg/hr - 2000kg/hr

CERTUSS (UK) Limited Unit 45 Gravelly Industrial Park Tyburn Road Birmingham B24 8TG

Tel: 0121 327 5362 Fax: 0121 328 2934 sales@certuss.co.uk www.certuss.co.uk

RENEWABLE ENERGY

Renewable power push DONG Energy MD Jeff Whittingham on why the supplier is making it cheaper for firms to choose renewable power

J

une was an eventful month for sustainability in the corporate world.

The Clean Energy Ministerial, a global forum promoting the transition to green energy, met in San Francisco for their seventh annual convention. The output of their talks is, frankly, exciting. It saw the group – comprising governments, policymakers, businesses and investment communities – launch a worldwide initiative to encourage much wider corporate sourcing of renewables. This gave further recognition to the role that business has to play in reducing overall global emissions.

During the meeting, it was announced that six further companies have pledged their commitment to the RE100 campaign, which is operated by The Climate Group and CDP (formerly the Climate Disclosure Project). As campaign members, organisations commit to sourcing 100% of their electricity from renewable sources within a particular timeframe. This is no mean feat for multi-site, multinational companies.

There are now 65 members, who establish a deadline and have their progress tracked by RE100 year on year. In return, participants benefit from expert guidance and peer-topeer learning to help them in achieving their objective.

So why have these 65 companies chosen to make such a substantial commitment? The answer seems to be a growing acceptance that, as key drivers of economic growth, large

40 June/July 2016

DONG Energy took the decision to absorb the premium associated with renewable electricity for its customers

RE100 has estimated that if 1,000 of the world’s most influential businesses were to become 100% powered by renewables, they alone would decarbonise almost a tenth of electricity used worldwide

corporations have a major role to play in global energy transformation and in reducing the rate of climate change. In fact, RE100 has estimated that if 1,000 of the world’s most influential businesses were to become 100% powered by renewables, they alone would decarbonise almost a tenth of electricity used worldwide, as well as cutting overall global emissions by 3.4%.

With so many businesses already declaring their commitment to the initiative, it is likely that many more will choose to engage. This could be from a corporate responsibility perspective, or to demonstrate desirable environmental credentials within their own tenders, as part of a supply chain.

Renewable electricity without the premium We all recognise the sustainability benefits of going green. However, making this choice commercially

can be less straightforward, particularly where budgets are tight and procurement professionals are under constant pressure to make those budgets work harder.

Taking a brief look back in time, in 2001 the government introduced the Climate Change Levy (CCL), a tax designed to encourage businesses to use less energy.

Businesses that purchased renewable electricity could gain exemption from the tax by purchasing Levy Exemption Certificates (LECs). This drove a high demand for renewable supply in the UK and resulted in renewable electricity selling at a similar or lower price to brown electricity.

The government phased out the CCL from August 2015 onwards, resulting in higher costs for renewable electricity. Purchasing green has once again become an active sustainability choice for businesses and, instead

Sponsored column

of LECs, businesses must now hold Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin (REGO) certificates to demonstrate that they have purchased green electricity. The REGO certificates provide evidence that electricity comes from a renewable source and now hold a value in the market, where renewable electricity is sold at a premium to brown.

In April this year, DONG Energy took the decision to invest in the sustainability of UK businesses and absorb the premium associated with renewable electricity for its customers. It was a bold move but one which felt like the right thing to do.

As a company, we believe that all businesses should be able to make sustainable choices, without incurring commercial disadvantage.

No matter which sector you’re in, all business budgets are under constant scrutiny, thanks to a marketplace which is fiercely competitive, and frequently operating on a global scale as well.

Of course, that scrutiny extends to energy budgets. By removing the cost premium, we’re enabling companies of all sizes and sectors to buy renewable energy without having to justify their decision on a commercial basis.

That feels right and fair.

Renewable energy: only one piece of the energy puzzle Purchasing electricity from a renewable source undoubtedly makes a substantial contribution towards a company’s carbon reduction targets and where the supplier can prove the source of that renewable electricity, businesses are able to report zero emissions within greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting; that’s a 368 tonne saving in carbon emissions for every gigawatt hour used.

However, to make a real difference to carbon and cost, the energy strategy needs

theenergyst.com theenergyst.com

to be more far reaching.

Demand side response is a hot topic at the moment and unlocking the flexibility in energy use is absolutely crucial to help balance the grid, and aid our transition to a more sustainable, decentralised energy system, without unnecessarily inflating the cost to the consumer. In recognition of that pivotal role, National Grid has launched a range of reserve and frequency response schemes that are designed to enable a wider range of organisations to get involved.

In addition, schemes such as DONG Energy’s Renewable Balancing Reserve and simple load management to avoid peak cost periods enable businesses of any size to try flexible solutions without risk or contractual commitment.

The most obvious way of positively impacting the cost base and the carbon emissions is, of course, to use fewer units of electricity in the first place. Energy efficiency isn’t by any means a new concept but it has received renewed engagement thanks to the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme. Many business will have received their output report at the start of this year, resulting in an increased awareness of the opportunity to make energy savings and helping to support that allimportant investment case.

In short, by putting an integrated energy strategy in place, energy professionals stand to make a significant contribution to both their organisation’s sustainability objectives and its bottom line.

With new solutions regularly making themselves present on the market, it is worth equipping yourself with the tools to identify options that really work for your business – whether that’s the latest energy reduction initiatives or premium-free renewable electricity. te dongenergy.co.uk

A smarter approach to working with energy consultants Dan Smith, head of channel sales at SmartestEnergy, gives an insight to our approach to working with energy consultants and why they are vital to the energy market.

We hear a lot from energy suppliers about the importance of customer service. Rhetoric or not, the need to regularly claim it is indicative to me of an industry that often falls short of meeting both customer expectations and requirements.

Competition in the electricity market is increasing and supplier margins subsequently decrease, yet we are operating in a volatile political and regulatory environment where change is regular, complex and implemented quickly.

Consumers need a trusted advisor to support them and suppliers can no longer consider energy consultants as simply a route to market. They are essential to complete the jigsaw puzzle that is an energy consumer’s requirements in our increasingly complex industry.

SmartestEnergy has long understood the value in applying the same standards of service to consultants as we do to the actual electricity customer.

It has become one of our core principles that we have structured our business around: Sales structure: The channel sales team is focused exclusively on managing energy consultants.

Each consultant has two main contacts: one with the aim to deliver the best customer experience; and the other developing relations and product knowledge.

Tel: +44 (0)1473 234150 Email: channelteam@ smartestenergy.com www.smartestenergy. com/consultants

Products and service: SmartestEnergy aims to develop products to allow the energy consultant – through their own expertise and knowledge – to add value to their clients. Our Framework Agreement enables consultants to aggregate their clients’ volume without cross subsidisation, whilst still accommodating individual client needs from hedging strategies to setting non-energy prices.

Knowledge sharing: Suppliers have access to resources and information that isn’t typically available to consultants. As part of an information sharing package, we support our partners with NonEnergy Charges webinars and a weekly regulatory news update.

Our strategy and approach to working with energy consultants isn’t revolutionary but the consistent and sustained execution across the business is.

It is culturally engrained into our organisation from product and system development through to our people.

If you’re looking to work with a supplier that wants to understand your business, please contact one of our team at smartestenergy.com to discuss how we can work together.

RENEWABLE ENERGY

Only solar performs as it should Willmott Dixon has monitored the performance of various renewable technologies to find out if their actual performance matches the design predictions. It found that only photovoltaic panel technology consistently performed in line with predictions, writes principal sustainable development manager Alasdair Donn

P

hotovoltaics (PVs) offer building design teams an assured way to achieve energy, carbon and financial savings for the client. Or, in advertising parlance: “PVs do exactly what it says on the tin.”

That, at least, is the conclusion we have come to at Willmott Dixon after monitoring the performance of various renewable/low carbon technologies on a sample of our recent schemes.

Our studies formed the basis of a paper we presented at the recent CIBSE Technical Symposium in Edinburgh.

It is worth mentioning at the outset that as a typical main contractor, Willmott Dixon had no interest in promoting one particular renewable technology over another. We are not interested in adding green bling at project design stage. Nor are we interested in

42 June/July 2016

adding renewables simply to achieve planning compliance.

We do, however, have an interest in being in a position to provide technologies that deliver real benefits to our clients over a project’s lifetime.

Designers often have very little choice in whether or not to install renewables because the rules and regulations, or interpretations of them, including Part L and its equivalents in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, the London Energy Plan, BREEAM and LEED, all tend to steer designers towards various low and zero carbon energy systems.

Monitoring performance Designers do have a choice when it comes to deciding on which low carbon technology to incorporate, within the cost and practicality constraints of the project. The problem is that

many of these technologies and systems look good on paper but often they are complex to design and install and even more complicated to operate and maintain effectively. We know this because Willmott Dixon invests in performance monitoring of key projects to see how systems we’ve installed actually perform in practice.

Evidence from our research shows that renewable/low carbon energy systems do not always perform in line with manufacturers optimistic predictions with one exception – PVs. Over all of our studies across various technologies solar PV is the one technology that consistently delivers what it was predicted to deliver.

Having a predictable performance and an accurate cost-in-use data is, perhaps, even more critical for renewables now that the financial assistance

from the Renewable Heat Incentive and Feed-in-Tariff have all but disappeared.

Data verified One reason solar PV performs in line with predicted delivery is because of the large amount of verified performance data undertaken for large-scale solar schemes, such as the 46MWp Landmead solar farm and the 69.5MWp RAF Lyneham, the largest solar farm in the UK. Renewables at this scale require the investment of considerable sums of money.

In the UK, the solar industry has invested approximately £4bn each year during 2014 and 2015 in new generation systems with every pound invested based on known returns based on actual power output. The consequence of which is that investors have a very keen

theenergyst.com

interest in ensuring that the installation is performing as predicted. As part of this process, performance monitoring software, which allows the remote monitoring of largescale PV systems, is also well developed to provide investors with information on actual outputs. Software can even apply compensation factors to the output for unseasonal weather and even decide when cleaning or maintenance of the array is required.

Willmott Dixon’s experience shows that these performance prediction/monitoring systems, originally developed for largescale arrays, translate well to building-scale schemes.

This was the case with Keynsham Civic Centre, where results show that the system actually produced 8% more electricity than predicted for the year (see box).

Using sophisticated PV*SOL software enables accurate, real design targets for building-scale PVs to be developed. Accurate

prediction of building scale PV performance and building electricity consumption is crucial because the financial return of the system is often based on the proportion of electricity off-set against the cost of imported electricity or exported and sold to the grid.

If the installation incorporates a cheap and easy-to-use monitoring system it is relatively easy to track the system’s performance and compare it with the target values. Where there is a discrepancy between the two, this should be the trigger to investigate further and potentially take some form of corrective action.

Big advantage Aside from predictability of performance, another big advantage of installing PVs is that the risks and downsides of the technology are comparatively well understood and are easily mitigated. Mitigation can include, for example: • Accurate modelling

Over all of our studies across various technologies solar PV is the one technology that consistently delivers what it was predicted to deliver

• •

•

•

of shading and the consideration of future developments/changes that might cast a shadow on the array Using high quality panels and inverters to assure performance Fit monitoring/alarm systems to ensure inverter failures are detected immediately Ensure cleaning/ maintenance is scheduled appropriate to the site’s location Ensure commercial guarantees for equipment are in place

Following the successful completion of a significant number of PV installations, Willmott Dixon has found that if we get our predictions correct and we manage the downsides of PVs well, then the PV installation will perform just as we told the client it would; which is obviously good for us and good for our clients. te willmottdixon.co.uk

The performance of PVs at Keynsham Civic Centre Keynsham Civic Centre in Somerset is among the most energy-efficient office developments in the country. Built by Willmott Dixon in 2014, it has one of the largest council-owned solar panel installations in the UK. Willmott Dixon worked with AHR architects and environmental engineer Max Fordham to provide a building with optimal environmental performance.

This included orientating the building and developing its form to reduce the requirements for mechanical ventilation and lighting and maximise PV output from the roof area.

The scheme used high efficiency PV modules and was predicted to deliver 50% of the building’s total electrical demand.

The cost for the system was approximately £1,900/kWp installed. Results show the system produced 8% more electricity than predicted for the year commencing 12.09.14 based on a projected PV output of 215MWhr/y compared with an actual output of 233MWhr/y. The system delivered total savings of approximately £43,000 per year for the client.

theenergyst.com

June/July 2016

43

HVAC

Would you replace old heating technology because of its energy use and the improvement of later generation models or technologies?

Readers’ heat investments ë If it ainí t broke, doní t fix ití remains a maxim for only a minority. More than half of respondents say they would buy replacement heating plant if it met internal rates of return.

However, a significant minority hethat Energyst admit savingssurveyed would have to be areaders dramaticfor to get theviews boardí s their approval.

80%

56%

29%

15%

70%

The Energyst surveyed readers for their views on heat. Here’s a snapshot of what they said Which low carbon technologies have you installed within your building?

T

on decarbonising

heat.

Some 81respondents people Almost eight in ten have installed energy efficient completed the survey across lighting systems, versus almost sectors spanning manufacturing, six in ten installing low carbon health,heat local government, solutions.

Greater lighting may be because centralactions government, leisurelighting solutions are often lower cost, and retail.

Respondents also easier to retrofit and require less included working workconsultants in terms of business case. both aresectors. positive statistics. acrossBut multiple Almost of respondents have Around 50half respondents also upgraded building controls, specified which technologies possibly to more effectively use they were deploying existing assets oror as part of an upgradeOf to light or heat. considering. those, 44% are

60%

50%

Figure 1: Which low carbon technologies have 40% you installed within your building?

30% 100%

20% 90%

58%

77%

45%

31%

27%

12%

10% 80%

70%

60%

50%

We look at energy use and would consider the internal rate of return for such an action and do it.

It might be considered but it would have to be a dramatic saving to persuade the board

As long as it works reliably we wouldní t consider changing the equipment

40%

30%

20%

10% assessing or deploying more That more than 25% have Do you have a blend of technology for your heating than one type.

A handful of installed CHP may reflect the number of respondents from local othersrequirements? said they were assessing (such as gas boilers, pumpsAir and solar Heating Lightingheat Building CHP None authorities, education and health Controls Conditioning all options or that choices were thermal) sectors. dependent on client suitability.

Figure 2: Do you have a blend of technology for your heating By volume, survey data requirements (such as gas boilers, heat pumps and solar thermal)? shows that they are most 50% Responses are roughly evenly 29% 37% 34% interested in heatpumps, split with almost a thirdwith of firms suggesting stating they either have 19 respondents they area system (29%) or are 40% eitherhybrid considering deployment considering one (36%). Roughly a or arethird deploying the technology, Is your organisation looking at low carbon methods of heating? would not consider one. most Qualitative of which were air-source interviews with 30% managing multiple whererespondents specified. Combined properties suggest that a hybrid heat and power was the next approach is necessary because most different popularbuildings technology, havecited different 20% More than three quarters of YES: 76% NO: 24% and infrastructure. by 16 requirements respondents, followed respondents say they are suggested hybrid systems closelyOthers by biomass (15). assessing lower carbon heating were a good medium term 10% solutions.

Respondents also either due approach toare decarbonisation, deploying or flexible investigating: to more system waste Of those respondents that integration andcondensing lower risks, but heat recovery (4); stated which technologies they stated that some technologies are considering or solar are already boilerswere (3); solar (3); not yet cost competitive.

Yes, we have a hybrid No, but we are No, ití s not something deploying, almost half were thermal (3); heat networks (2); system already considering one we are looking at assessing or using at least two BMS/controls energy technology(2); types.

If the from survey wastesample (2); infrared panels (1); is representative, that suggests significant geothermal heat (1); fuelappetite cells; to subsidies are unattractive for 12 decarbonise heat. It may also nanopartical technology (1). all but the largest biomass suggest that concerns around The Heat Report These installations, many of which the are costencouraging competitiveness of Published 2016 renewable heatwider are not shared by figures.

But in the world, are oversized for that reason. all market participants. there is currently little incentive Meanwhile technology remains for companies to start paying expensive and can be rendered serious attention to renewable inefficient through poor heat unless it is a going to operation and maintenance. save them money and deliver Unlike power, where large 8 reasonably rapid payback. coal stations are rendered Respondents interviewed uneconomic by large wind said the fact is that many farms and, for now, cheap gas, renewable heat technologies are heat use is determined by local simply not cost competitive. demand. It is about what people Others said that heat do with their thermostats.

Produced by

44 June/July 2016

Supported by

Perhaps then, local strategies must be devised, which is what government is trying to do by putting aside some money for heat network acceleration.

Heat networks undoubtedly have merit, with 79% of readers viewing them as a solution to decarbonising heat. They are assets that, with the right market framework, infrastructure funds will find attractive, bringing in extra capital. But Decc’s own figures predict that the £320m it has set aside to boost uptake will at best result in lower carbon heat for the equivalent of 400,000 homes.

That equates to 1.5% of the UK’s 26.5 million households.

Retrofitting heat networks will also be very challenging.

The truth is that decarbonising heat, while perhaps technically not that difficult, will be extremely expensive due to the disaggregated nature of the task.

Additionally, while non-domestic sectors may be influenced by mandates, 82% of householders are used to using the vast gas network whenever they like.

Targets or not, cultural resistance to change should not be underestimated. Until renewable heat technology becomes more cost competitive, or the available incentives reallocated to genuinely support the lowest cost solutions to decarbonisation, energy efficiency is likely to be our best bet.

Also, a major drive on insulation and efficiency would mean a much lower peak than the 360GW currently needed if we were to meet heat demand by switching from gas to electricity, which could prove expensive. te Download the full Heat Report at theenergyst.com

theenergyst.com

;!1+'<",!:"+-&#5!! '+#5"!06!*0,!7+,"'!!

(8(,"1(!60'!"4"'8!! "#4&'0#1"#,.

6&=+):.)$'=:&22 ✓ C$9A2():.)9&$':&$' ✓ 4(2$&@2(,)0$?0)D"&2$:+ ✓ E":=:&'>$'?)A(#1.#9&'%( ✓

F"2:$A.$':

Hi-Max Instant HIU

Hi-Max Store HIU

Megaflo Eco

C:#(&92$'(

Megaflo Commercial

2%'!/013'"*"#(&4"!'+#5"!06!*0,!7+,"'!(8(,"1(!(",!,*"!! standard for durability, performance and energy efficiency.! ) 8#.9)!(&:);':(#1&%()<'$:=)&'>)&/&#>)/$''$'?)%+2$'>(#=)="$:&@2()) 1.#)&'+)A"@2$%,)>.9(=:$%).#)%.99(#%$&2)@"$2>$'?,):.)%.9A&%:,) 9&$'=)A#(=="#()="AA2$(=)1.#)9"2:$B@&=$')$'=:&22&:$.'=)&'>)) flexible, single washroom water heaters.

9"!*+4"!+!3'0-%/,!,+&:0'"-!,0!80%'!#""-(.

5,6&%+&2,7'2)$)*+%&$)2(%8$(2%6)2(799,'&2&$%-(2,6

./0.1234.44.!!!"#$%&'&"()*"+,'+"(+-&+./01

!!!"#$%&'%$(%)*%"+,-

!"##$%&'()*&+,)-.#/$%0,)-.#1.23)-45)567

HVAC

Heat: A university challenge Decarbonising direct electric heat across an estate spanning 136 buildings in 26 cities is no mean feat. But Unite Students energy and environment manager James Tiernan sees it as an opportunity to test a range of technologies and approaches. He has already dispelled some preconceptions. Brendan Coyne reports

J

ames Tiernan, energy and environment manager at Unite Students, looks after the energy needs of 46,000 students across the UK. The estate spans 136 buildings in 26 cities, from Aberdeen down to Plymouth. Buildings vary significantly in design, age, construction type and approach to building services. Unite’s new build pipeline also encompasses a range of strategies.

“It’s quite a complex mix,” admits Tiernan. But it means he can assess pretty much every technology in a bid to boost efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.

Despite the variables, there is one near universal theme.

“The biggest chunk in our existing estate for heating and hot water is direct electric.

Which obviously poses quite a few challenges from an energy and carbon point of view,” says Tiernan.

“So the focus has been twofold: what is the best way of generating heat, whether space heating or hot water?

And what is the best way of controlling it, specific to our requirements?”

Unknown knowns The tricky part is that those requirements are unpredictable. “There isn’t really a usage pattern.

Students don’t have one.

It really is quite difficult to predict when demand is going to be there for heating and hot water,” says Tiernan “That’s also true at a micro and macro level:

46 June/July 2016

within the day, but also from day-to-day, week-toweek, month-to-month.”

The third week in March, for example, is not always Reading Week and Easter.

Also, students from one discipline might spend more time in lectures while others spend more time in halls. The only certainty, says Tiernan, is the summer holidays.

“Even then there are still hot water requirements for cleaning. Many of our buildings maintain water hygiene via temperature control, so you have to keep the cylinders above a certain temperature, otherwise they have to be reconditioned and purged.

That is just not possible in the timescales that we have to turn the rooms around.”

Ultimately Tiernan wants to move the estate away from direct electric heating.

But that may take years and such narrow windows of opportunity make improving

existing assets enough of a challenge. Hence making controls a priority.

He hopes those controls will also allow the company to participate in demandside services and triad management, and has begun discussions with aggregators.

The biggest chunk in our existing estate for heating and hot water is direct electric.

Which obviously poses quite a few challenges from an energy and carbon point of view James Tiernan

Unite’s estate spans 136 buildings in 26 cities

Demand-side response “Electric immersion heaters are a prime candidate for demand-side management (DSM) both in terms of switching off and turning on,” says Tiernan.

“In the long term I am keen to replace them with something far more efficient than direct electric. But if in the short term we can achieve some real benefits through changing the controller relatively easily, we are keen to do so.”

What complicates the picture, compared to other sectors, says Tiernan, is that instead of having buildings with several large point loads, Unite Students has the opposite.

“Our buildings have many, many distributed small loads.

That makes it difficult to cost effectively manage them – and that applies to DSM as much as anything else. So if we go down the DSM route, we must have cost-effective controls.”

He is upbeat that can be achieved given the explosion of connectivity and the burgeoning internet of things. Unite is working with suppliers to keep costs down.

“The moment you get above £100 per controller,

theenergyst.com

with 46,000 rooms it starts to get very expensive. The business case then starts to look a bit less favourable.

But as technology develops there will be more that we can look at doing.”

Infrared and heat pumps Tiernan says “next level” trials with direct electric sites aim to gauge whether existing basic panel heaters might be improved upon.

“We are trialling forced air convectors, infrared panel heaters, oil-filled radiators and other technology to work out what is the best way of getting the heat into the room, and then controlling it,” he says.

“We also have various pilots and trials running at the moment looking at the best retrofit approach as well. So where we have got distributed direct electric hot water throughout the building, we are looking at a pilot to see if we can retrofit those with centralised air source heat pumps.”

That trial is taking place at a site that uses a gas boiler because it will provide back-up during the install. Tiernan says the need to provide continuous user comfort with no margin for error throws up another project skew.

“It is not like a hotel where you can take rooms offline for a week – even though there are time pressures there and I appreciate that – our rooms are occupied all year round apart from a small window in the summer. Our students are very much seen as customers.

A central pillar of our service is providing a safe, secure, comfortable place to live. So we are trying to balance customer comfort versus energy savings.”

District heating Beyond that, Unite has even bigger plans, aiming to connect to a heat network in Aberdeen, although Tiernan admits he has yet to write the business case.

theenergyst.com

Retrofitting a wet heating system to a currently allelectric building is no mean feat, and he acknowledges that business case “will have to be quite compelling”.

But he thinks the project looks viable because it will connect to an existing network, removing the cost of a central plant. And as Tiernan looks to move away from direct electric via wet-system retrofits, the project may well “kill two birds with one stone”.

“It will prove the concept of district heating retrofit, but it will also prove the concept for wet heating retrofit, so we can then look whether we use CHP, condensing boilers, heat pumps or whatever,” he says. “It becomes almost academic.”

Finance Tiernan says Unite tends to use its own capital to fund projects, steering clear of external finance. Sometimes those projects are significant.

“We are halfway through a £21m LED lighting and controls upgrade, which was fully funded with internal capital. We don’t have any EPC-type arrangements and I am not actively looking at any.

Energy performance contracts may work in certain environments, he says, “but with our estate and structures they don’t work so well and can perhaps be a bit constraining”.

Unite, he says, has to put customer comfort first.

“Anything that could potentially jeopardise that is

too high a risk. The risk is that someone is incentivised by the savings they achieve, not necessarily the customer satisfaction that results.”

Subsidies Equally, subsidies are not high on the agenda. Tiernan suggests that in the main they are too complex and create unnecessary risk.

“There was an Eco stream specifically for retrofit connections for district heating. Initially, we thought that looked brilliant.” But scratching the surface proved otherwise.

“There are so many hoops to jump through along the way.

Because it is retrospectively applied, the risk is that if you predicate your business case on the funding, and you don’t actually get it, it is just too high a risk. Plus you have to have bridging funds in the interim anyway.”

If projects actually manage to get support “it is almost

The way I see it, something is costeffective and viable, or it is not. So we have to build a business case that stands on its own two feet

like a bonus,” says Tiernan.

“In which case you don’t need it anyway because you have already had to write a viable business case. So it is almost irrelevant.

“The way I see it, something is cost-effective and viable, or it is not. So we have to build a business case that stands on its own two feet.”

Certainty?

That’s not to say any guaranteed incentive would not be factored into projects, says Tiernan. But he questions whether certainty actually exists within energy policy, with one of the most recent u-turns proving his point, “Historically we have looked at the carbon benefits that would be delivered and therefore the CRC savings that would be realised. That acted as an incentive within the business case because it was relatively certain. But, nothing is really certain and a few years from now we are going to lose that element of the business case due to the CRC’s demise.”

While admitting it is hardly an original thought, Tiernan says the only policy he can think of to decarbonise heat more quickly is certainty.

“Chopping and changing doesn’t help anyone in any area of life. So if you are planning any major investment you have to make sure it can stand on its own two feet if the carpet is pulled out from under them.” te This article apeared in the Heat Report download it at theenergyst.com

Direct electric heating: Not all bad Tiernan says that while he was “almost ideologically opposed” to using electricity for heating, running the numbers from this year’s carbon calculations challenged his assumptions.

“The sites where we have direct electric heating and direct electric hot water actually performed pretty well from a carbon point of view compared to sites where we have gas,” he says. “That is down to the fact it is much easier to control the electric sites and therefore you are not wasting heat in empty rooms.

“I found it interesting that my initial view [of direct electric] proved to be not necessarily the full picture.”

June/July 2016

47

ENERGY MANAGEMENT

All MoD cons, lower MoD costs Camilla Timms, sustainability adviser at Landmarc Support Services, discusses the challenges faced when managing energy consumption across the Ministry of Defence training estate, and how new upgrade projects will deliver significant energy savings and increase resilience

I

t is crucial that positive changes are made when it comes to energy management across the MoD training estate, as an appropriate sustainable solution is beneficial to both daily operations and the environment.

Demand has been placed upon public service suppliers to manage energy consumption, and organisations must address the Greening Government Commitments of reducing greenhouse emissions, reducing water consumption, and buying more sustainable and efficient products.

In addition, the MoD has also published Act & Evolve: Sustainable MOD Strategy 2015-2025, which sets out its commitment to achieve more efficiency and greater resilience to energy security and supply issues. This strategy includes increasing energy efficiency across the estate, reducing dependency on fossil fuels and becoming more resilient to climate impacts.

However, this poses a set of unique challenges, as the estate has multiple uses and a range of stakeholders, all with an interest in how it is managed. Educating these stakeholders in order to implement any kind of energy conservation initiative effectively – with users ranging from soldiers and other military personnel, to civilians making use of the camps – takes time and effort.

Facilities require energy for a number of things,

48 June/July 2016

Landmarc provides facilities management and energy upgrades in remote MoD training environments

Another new technology used across the estate was air source heat pumps, which replaced LPG heaters at all three of the camps

including heating, lighting, IT equipment, electronic training equipment and cooking, for example.

Add to this the vast and remote nature of the sites – spanning more than 190,000 hectares of some of the most valuable habitats and landscapes in Great Britain, including 120 camps – and it is clear to see that managing the energy consumption of the estate’s facilities is no easy feat.

Traditionally, camps have relied on bulk fossil fuels to provide energy for accommodation, buildings and infrastructure, as they are in rural locations that do not have access to main gas networks. But the negative environmental impact these types of fuels can have has

become a cause for concern.

Implementing change To maintain a sustainable, lasting operation takes a considered approach to environmental change, with energy being at the core of this drive towards sustainability.

So it is not just a case of placing an energy awareness poster in every department – it requires a complete analysis of every process and a change in corporate culture, affecting operations at every level.

To truly understand the improvements that could be made, Landmarc commissioned a piece of first-hand research on effective renewable energy sources and the optimisation of existing sources. The aim was to reduce carbon

theenergyst.com

emissions, while still reducing running costs and increasing service value.

The new ‘energy projects’ forged from this research endeavored to achieve security and resilience by reducing demand and applying the energy hierarchy. First by measuring and understanding energy consumption; second by reducing waste and eliminating energy losses; and third, by installing new efficient and renewable technologies after demand had been reduced as far as possible.

In order to achieve the maximum impact, the project began by targeting buildings that were found to have the greatest heat losses and consumption of carbon intensive fuels. Bodney, West Tofts and Beckingham Camps were fitted with cleaner, more efficient sources of heating and hot water, including air source heat pumps, more efficient boilers and radiators, and ‘tank-intank’ hot water systems.

The buildings were also refurbished to improve their thermal envelope and energy efficient lighting was installed, reducing the overall energy requirements.

– whereas a traditional single element electric cylinder took 10 hours to heat water to the desired temperature, this new system takes only 45 minutes.

Another new technology used across the estate was air source heat pumps, which replaced LPG heaters at all three of the camps.

They are thermostatically controlled to maintain temperatures of 18.5°C when buildings are occupied, and 12°C when unoccupied, in order to maintain the fabric of the building.

Each system incorporates red and green off/on lights present outside each accommodation block. This enables the facilities management team to override programmes and ‘turn on’ blocks that are booked on arrival – and ‘switch off ’ on departure.

Any heat pumps accidentally left on can be seen and turned off as part of a routine drive around the camp, and energy is also saved as unoccupied heating blocks no longer use heating by default.

Landmarc’s sustainability team, IT application development team and site teams also worked together to develop a

£296k

Innovative Equivalent saving technology in LPG costs across The move the three camps towards innovative new technologies meant further energy reductions could be seen, which would not be possible by relying solely on traditional methods. These included the aforementioned ‘tank-intank’ systems, which use a stainless steel cylinder mounted within an outer cylinder, with a jacket of hot water circulating between them.

The large surface area preheats the water entering the inner tank and maintains it at a higher temperature for longer

theenergyst.com

The best way for rural energy managers to implement change is to first understand the environment, and the social, economic and natural capital it creates

The project targeted MoD buildings found to have the greatest heat losses

new utilities management service. This was designed to receive meter readings for electricity, gas and bulk fuels (such as LPG and heating oil), offering a ‘view’ of sites’ consumption, comparing expected energy consumption and targets for reduction.

This enabled Landmarc’s sustainability advisor to see ‘at a glance’ any unusual spikes, and even analyse these against factors that might explain high-energy use, such as camp occupancy and local weather conditions.

Savings achieved The calculated savings for these most recent projects are 40,363kWh per year per building, giving a payback of about 7.5 years for the investment. For the 83 buildings across the three camps, this gives a total saving of approximately 3,230,000kWh per year – the equivalent to around £296,000 per year in LPG costs.

In addition to this, insulation and lighting has been improved meaning accommodation is warmer and brighter, and facilities can be ready for users quicker than before.

Going forward, Landmarc plans to develop bespoke solutions for each of the sites across the estate, tailored to their individual energy demands. The systems that have been implemented so far have proven successful, and the technology is an ideal solution for rural establishments that are out of reach of main gas networks.

Ultimately, the best way for rural energy managers to implement change is to first understand the environment, and the social, economic and natural capital it creates – only then can the best solution be determined, in order to not only reduce energy consumption but also enhance the user experience. te landmarcsolutions.com

June/July 2016

49

ENERGY MANAGEMENT

Retrofit and upgrade to make quickest efficiency gains Retrofitting existing building fabric will make the greatest energy efficiency gains over the next three years, according to the Energy Institute

E

energy Institute members believe technology and equipment upgrades have significant short-term potential, as do controls and smart systems.

However, they place little stock in electric heat pumps, smart appliances or renewable heat in either the near term or the long term.

By 2030, EI members believe new build standards will make the biggest impact on UK energy efficiency.

Those findings were published in the EI’s annual Energy Barometer, based on a survey of members.

“Energy efficiency in buildings can deliver results both in the short and longer term, if government acts now to set a policy framework that

drives investor confidence, consumer demand for energy efficiency, and energy use and behaviour change,” said Joanne Wade, chair of the EI’s Energy Advisory Panel, which oversaw the survey and report.

However, when asked what single measure government could take to meet carbon budgets and 2050 emissions targets, energy efficiency was trumped by renewable energy and nuclear energy, as well as policy stability and financial incentives.

Meanwhile, only 6% of those polled cited demand management and reduction as the key policy approach.

In the main, members were unconvinced the UK would meet its approaching carbon budgets and 2050 emissions targets.

Figure 2: In 2030, which primary energy source will contribute most to the UK heat/transport/electricity mix? What other sources will make a significant contribution? N = 438

Figure 1: Withing the building Sector, through what specific area do you think the greatest efficiency gains can be made?

Skills While new nuclear is seen by many members as a key pillar of decarbonising power, they believe the sector will suffer from the largest skills shortfall in both the long and mid-term. Skills shortages in energy storage and smart grid sectors will also suffer the next largest gaps, they believe.

Energy storage Members also singled out energy storage as the technology most in need of innovation, with batteries perceived as potentially the most cost-effective technology at all scales, increasingly so at smaller scales. But investment

50 June/July 2016

and cost, limitations of existing technology and current policy and regulation were perceived as barriers to scale.

Meanwhile, about 16% of respondents did not see energy storage playing a significant role in the UK energy system by 2030.

Fuel sources Members believe that gas will be the primary fuel source for both heat and power by 2030, and that oil will continue to largely power transport.

In the power sector, nuclear will play the key supporting role, according to the EI, followed by offshore wind. te energyinst.org

theenergyst.com

Changing the conversation Martyn Sheridan on how to bring energy savings into the boardroom successfully and how E.ON approaches energy services

I

f you strip away the complexities of the energy market then, just like many other business transactions, prices can be summed up quite succinctly: consumption x unit price = cost. If you want to become more efficient you either negotiate a cheaper price or you consume fewer units.

Sure, if you’re a glass maker or a food manufacturer where heat or power is either number one or two on your list of costs, then of course you’ll have looked at your processes, your usage and taken actions on how to become more efficient – some effectively and perhaps some not so.

For many businesses energy may not be a large cost or high on your list of priorities right now but it will climb that list year on year. Improving your purchasing strategy and hitting the market right might save some percentage points off your unit costs (but don’t forget the commodity costs are only around half the total bill) – so the alternative is to use less by investing in energy efficiency solutions.

Getting the go ahead One of the frustrations I have is what happens after I speak to the person responsible for energy or energy efficiency – when sometimes it can seem like they’ve hit a brick wall in getting the green light for investing in such solutions.

This is not all the time I must stress. Sometimes I engage straight away with the finance director of a FTSE 250 company and they buy into the concept and the process can move smoothly. Sometimes I engage with a facilities manager in a mediumsized business who takes

theenergyst.com

Robert Kenworthy, group facilities director of hotel group Ralph Trustees, says “E.ON has tailored its approach to meet our unique needs” it to the board; sometimes they say yes and sometimes they ignore the request.

The other potential issue is that sometimes the message gets lost in translation between the energy manager and the financial decision-maker. Part of the problem is they speak different languages – CO2 vs ROI, for example – so we must learn to speak the language of the other in order to make a compelling business case.

What we are talking about ultimately is competitiveness and future growth. Most companies think of energy efficiency only in terms of cost savings. But it can offer more in the form of new business opportunities and increased competitiveness, business resilience and investor attractiveness.

Most companies think of energy efficiency only in terms of cost savings

So what does this new conversation look like?

• Address concern around upfront cost/appetite for long-term payback periods: Many boardrooms have heard all this before; they’ve thrown some money at the problem but it’s not gone away. There has been no proof of success, no verification or measurement.

• Challenge uncertainty around eventual return on investment: Involve the finance team early and outline the funding options – it’s always satisfying meeting a sceptic and then offering to not only fund the project but to share the savings until the investment has paid off. Or tell them we can take it off-balance or we’ll underwrite the projected savings. This approach not only gets FD buy-in but the board sees a no brainer.

• Overcome lack of resources, from relative prioritisation (to explore and implement): Make recognition of the strategic nature of energy efficiency part of the culture – this is about board level leadership not short-term tactical wins.

• Detail how the investment contributes to the strategic aims of your organisationhow does it add value? How does it reduce risks? How does it reduce costs? From my perspective it is assisting with people’s knowledge. I want to be the person who my customers go to for answers to their energy questions. And if I don’t know, I have a business behind me where someone will know the answer.

• Identify and track the benefits as you go – financial savings or reduced regulatory risks can be more straightforward but are no more important than value benefits which are harder to measure – customer opinion, new business wins, staff pride.

And it can be done. Look at M&S and its ‘Plan A’ commitments. Plan A has not only reduced costs, it has improved brand perception, customer loyalty and staff pride – it doesn’t get much more strategic than that.

Coincidentally, E.ON’s Matrix business has so far helped deliver 36% energy savings across 600 stores as the energy efficiency partner of M&S going back eight years.

So does the boardroom take energy savings seriously? I think they would if they were given the opportunity to look at it correctly. To understand the risk it has on their business, the real potential for improving the bottom line, that performance can be measured and that a lack of funding might not stop a project from happening. te Martyn Sheridan is a key account manager for energy solutions at E.ON

June/July 2016

51

ENERGY MANAGEMENT

Retailer saves 1.5MW per hour A central control and management system has enabled a multinational retailer to significantly reduce overall energy consumption across its stores

E

nergy is one of the main expenditures in the retail sector and has a direct effect on the price of the end product.

Lighting, cooling, heating and refrigrator systems consume energy in significant amounts and these should be monitored for energy efficiency and consumption.

Multinational retailer CarrefourSA opened its first shop door in 1963 in France and today operates more than 16,000 stores in some 30 countries.

At the beginning of 2012, the retailer commenced an energy saving programme to improve its lighting and automation systems.

The programme required a central management system with the ability to control and monitor all consumption areas.

The goal of the project was to reduce overall energy

The goal of the project was to reduce overall energy consumption, particularly where equipment was out of date, and gain full control of the retail stores from one central location

Detecting cladding and facade problems

T

raditionally, the maintenance of cladded building facades has always relied on manual inspection and labour, the cost of which is exacerbated by the installation of scaffolding and lift systems.

Cladding materials range widely from plaster and stone to marble tiles and wood but all can detach from the façade through weathering and ageing and become a public safety concern.

For one building inspection company, however, this work is now undertaken quicker

52 June/July 2016

and more effectively thanks to FLIR thermal imaging.

Darkwave Thermo has many years’ experience in this type of inspection and especially with buildings of significant cultural and historical value.

While traditional methods may still be viable for a few, smaller buildings those that are large and complex are particularly good candidates for thermal inspection.

Darkwave currently uses its FLIR T640 for this purpose.

This is a high performance camera with on-board 5MP visual camera, interchangeable

lens options with autofocus and a tiltable viewfinder.

MSX adds visible spectrum definition to IR images in real time enabling Darkwave’s thermographers to instantly recognise problem locations.

Under the correct inspection conditions, the FLIR T640 can easily and clearly highlight the surfaces subject to detachment for Darkwave Thermo. In images 1-3 (opposite), the irregularly shaped orangecoloured areas show the presence of detached cladding.

The distinction between the bonded and faulty cladding is

determined by the camera as the respective surfaces heat up at different rates in the sunlight.

As the temperature difference is relatively subtle, the high thermal sensitivity of the FLIR T640 (<.035°C at 30°C) is essential to the success of this application, as is the camera’s ability to provide clear thermal images over a distance. It’s acceptance of a wide range of interchangeable lenses is also important.

Another FLIR T-Series software feature that is a boon for this type of work is Panorama, which allows a series

theenergyst.com

consumption, particularly where equipment was out of date, and gain full control of the retail stores from one central location The solution consisted of implementing central and remote SCADA servers with the ability to handle large numbers of parameters, installing new energy meters, automation panels and PLC control panels.

Energy saving strategy For CarrefourSA, Copa-Data’s zenon Supervisor – which can handle numerous monitoring parameters and has advanced networking features – was considered the best solution.

It has more than 300 communication protocols available, making integration of projects easier (see box).

The project was designed

by SGE Engineering, which integrated more than 30,000 monitoring tags in zenon Supervisor, giving one second updates on local servers.

The SGE Engineering team executed a dimming project which resulted in 50% savings in hypermarket lighting and even more when there is adequate sun light.

All lighting is controlled by zenon Supervisor in 1

of IR images to be built up into a single composite image. An on-screen grid allows images to be dragged, dropped and overlayed into the composite JPEG and, uniquely, every pixel on the image is transferred with its own radiometric data.

For Darkwave Thermo, thermal imaging has proved

theenergyst.com

the hypermarkets where SCADA is integrated and each dimming level can be monitored and controlled.

Dimming levels can be adjusted by use of a schedule, or directly by light levels in the hypermarket. Retail stores are automated by using PLCs and contactors with user-configurable schedules.

Special Elnet MC Multifunction Energy meters with the ability to monitor 12 feeders simultaneously using one meter were used for the project. Not only energy values but also power quality values can be monitored – up to 12 three-phase feeders, or 36 single-phase loads.

Measured results Using zenon Supervisor, technical engineers can access a retail store or hypermarket remotely and have full control of the system from the SCADA server at their headquarters. Retail stores have automated control and hypermarkets have their own SCADA systems, where the main SCADA server is redundant to the hypermarket SCADA system.

Without monitoring you cannot be in control and have the ability to react 2

especially useful in inspections requisitioned to support legal cases where destructive tests are not allowed. In a similar vein, it is also an ideal alternative for heritage buildings where the intricate fabric has high historical value.

“Ancillary tests that we routinely carry out during

The SCADA solution Zenon Supervisor is an independent SCADA system that can help deliver long-term savings and lower operating costs, claims Copa-Data. Here’s what the company says about it: With the proven principle of “setting parameters instead of programming” the company claims users can shorten engineering time by up to 80%, with extensive network functions, simple access via any web browser and connection of any desired hardware all “out of the box”.

Using zenon, you can develop projects in your own particular style, use available templates and intelligent wizards. You are able to reuse previously created objects and symbols in other projects and keep an overview with the multi-project administration, also when working in a team. What’s more, well documented administration allows you to quickly find your way around any project and also easily access projects and equipment remotely.

You will be informed of whatever is happening in as detailed a way as you wish. Starting with the history of changes in engineering, up to effective reports in the Runtime, right up to calculating complex KPIs such as OEE. Full data security, maximum availability without downtimes as well as secured data is made possible through Zenon network technology with seamless redundancy and circular redundancy. Zenon is adapted to meet modern safety standards. This provides stable and safe equipment running. efficiently. Therefore, having a central cost control system, CarrefourSA engineers can monitor their retail stores, compare the m2 consumption values and react at the retail stores where consumption of m2 kwh is higher than it should be.

Any energy saving

investment can be monitored online and decisions can be taken when previous reference values are given.

The result of all CarrefourSA’s optimisation measures is extensive savings of more than 1.5MW per hour, according to Copa-Data. te copadata.com

3

our thermal inspections have always confirmed the quality of our analyses,” confirmed Luca Del Nero of Darkwave Thermo.

“Thermal imaging is now our primary technique to assess the status of façades, the extent of the problem, and to show us where to perform detachments tests.”

He concluded: “Today, especially in urban areas that require flexibility and speed of execution and where setting up an inspection platform requires permits and involves prohibitive costs, thermal imaging is the most flexible and reliable option.” te flir.com

June/July 2016

53

HEAT PUMPS

A new model for gas heat pumps?

With early adopters in the US achieving significant cost and CO2 benefits from gas heat pumps, Paul Hamblyn of EuroSite Power argues for greater adoption in the UK and Europe

A

combination of gas engine, compressor, heat exchangers and a control system functioning as a single unit, gas heat pumps allow combined production of hot and, in some cases, hot and chilled water.

While operating on the same principle as electric heat pumps, the difference comes from replacing the electric motor that drives the compressor with a gas engine.

In addition to benefitting from the lower cost of gas compared with electricity, the use of a gas engine also means the extra heat produced by the engine can be used, similar to a combined heat and power (CHP) unit. In essence, gas heat pumps can use the heat on site, which would otherwise be lost in the production of electric power at a distant power station. Carbon footprint is also lowered as the carbon intensity of gas is less than that for grid electricity.

Gas heat pumps are of particular use for facilities that require heating and cooling at the same time or those with higher cooling needs in summer and heating in winter. Also, facilities with a permanent need for chilling and/or a high demand for heat. That makes them especially relevant to, for instance, hotels, leisure centres, education and healthcare facilities and, of course, manufacturing processes.

Harbour House, Miami Harbour House is a 457 multiunit residential building in Miami Beach. Despite a full renovation in 2006, by 2013,

54 June/July 2016

Example of Illios HEWH-500-WS producing hot and chilled water simultaneously

The efficiency of the gas enginedriven heat pump is greater than that of its electric counterpart due to its ability to recover nearly all of the waste heat created by the engine and purposefully reuse it

the complex still faced high operating costs from traditional boilers providing round-theclock heat for domestic hot water, pool and spa heating and reheat (for humidity control).

After reviewing various options, the complex selected gas heat pump technology, with the promise of cutting its water heating bill in half.

An air-source Ilios GHP natural-gas engine-driven heat pump was specified to provide the lowest operating cost and the highest efficiency.

Stephen Lafaille, product manager for Ilios, says: “The operating cost savings come from using low-cost, natural gas as the input fuel, and also from harnessing free renewable energy from the surrounding air. The high efficiency compared with a boiler is inherent in the heat pump cycle where you input a small amount of energy to capture the heat from the surrounding air, raise

that heat energy up to a higher, more useful, temperature and then inject it into the hot water loop in the building.

“The efficiency of the gas engine-driven heat pump is greater than that of its electric counterpart due to its ability to recover nearly all of the waste heat created by the engine and purposefully reuse it. With electric heat pumps, all of that heat is wasted at a large, remote, power plant.”

Due to high efficiency and reduced fuel consumption, the Ilios GHP also allows a similar reduction in the building’s carbon footprint.

Harbour House is now using about 50% less natural gas and has also reduced its carbon footprint by 50% as a result.

The Ilios machine has logged thousands of run hours at Harbour House and is on track to save the residents and owners upwards of $25,000 annually after service costs

theenergyst.com

are accounted for. It will also reduce their carbon footprint by more than 91 tonnes annually, equivalent to taking 20 cars off the road each year.

Hotchkiss School, Lakeville Founded in 1891, the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut, attracts students from across the US and 34 other countries.

In 2002, Hotchkiss opened the Forrest E Mars Jr Athletic Center, with multipurpose playing surfaces, elevated indoor exercise track, Olympic Rink, NHL Rink, 10-lane swimming pool and separate diving pool, hardwood basketball court, wrestling room, eight international squash courts, indoor tennis courts, fitness centre, locker rooms and shower facilities.

When it was built, the centre (known as the MAC) was heated by two large boilers fuelled by heating oil. Since 2012, when the school’s biomass facility came online, the oil boilers were used only from mid-April to mid-October and for peak-load winter back-up.

In addition, conditions inside the athletic facility are carefully controlled to ensure a comfortable environment for occupants. This climate conditioning was achieved via use of an electric chiller.

However, since this cooling load existed simultaneously with the heating demand from the pool and showers, the MAC presented a great opportunity to apply the Ilios GHP. By simultaneously heating and cooling, the water-source heat pump would replace the operation of both the heating oil-fuelled boiler and electric chiller.

In 2014, school alumni Roger Liddell of Clear Harbor Asset Management persuaded the school that a gas heat pump would save the MAC thousands of dollars a year by significantly offsetting the operation of the existing heating and cooling systems.

theenergyst.com

There is an inherent cleanliness to using propane, a gaseous rather than a liquid fuel… as far as Tecogen has been able to determine, it has the world’s cleanest exhaust

In order to persuade the school to adopt the suggested technology, the project was funded as a cooperative venture.

Liddell brought the various parties together, and contributed significantly toward the purchase of the heat pump.

Hotchkiss paid to install it, and to hook the machine into the school’s energy management system. Manufacturer Tecogen contributed an Ilios heat pump fitted with its Ultera emissions-cleaning equipment and the Propane Education & Research Council supplied some generous funding, because the engine may be used to demonstrate the superiority of propane fuel.

“There is an inherent cleanliness to using propane, a gaseous rather than a liquid fuel,” Liddell says. “More importantly, the engineering of this system is so advanced that, as far as Tecogen has been able to determine, it has the world’s cleanest exhaust. The carbon

monoxide and nitrogen oxide exhaust levels are so low that the California Air Resources Board rates Tecogen equipment as having zero emissions.”

Tecogen and Liddell estimate that Hotchkiss will save 113 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year.

The school estimates that the MAC boilers had been using about $35,000 worth of oil per year compared to approximately $10,000 in annual fuel expense for the propane-fired heat pump.

Although the benefits of gas heat pumps over electric heat pumps are proven, a barrier to adoption has been that the capital costs are slightly higher than for an electric heat pump.

While the extra expense is quickly recouped from the savings, higher capital costs can still be difficult to get cleared at board level.

However, this can be overcome through On-Site Utility solutions whereby the equipment provider sells the energy produced from an on-site energy system to an individual property School’s annual as an alternative to saving from using the outright sale of energy equipment. propane-fired On-Site Utility heat pump solution customers only pay for the energy produced by the system and receive a guaranteed discount rate on the price of the energy. All system capital, installation, operating expenses and support are covered by the provider, removing all equipment risk from the customer.

This On-Site Utility model has already proven successful in boosting adoption of CHP in the UK. If more heat pump customers are persuaded to adopt a similar approach, entire communities may eventually benefit from cheaper and more environmentally friendly sourced heating and cooling. te eurositepower.co.uk

$25k

The Ilios GHP at Hotchkiss School

June/July 2016

55

LIGHTING

The brighter alternative Saima Shafi, co-founder of LED lighting specialist LED Eco Lights, offers a view on why LED filament lamps offer many advantages compared with traditional incandescent light bulbs

F

or almost 150 years, the incandescent light bulb has been shining bright to provide a reliable and effective means of illumination for millions of homes, hotels and businesses. Originally invented in parallel by Sir Joseph Swan (UK) and Thomas Edison (US) as the world’s first electric light bulb, it comprises a filament wire with an electric current running through it, which heats the wire to a high temperature until it glows, producing light or incandescence.

Incandescent bulbs are manufactured in a range of wattages, shapes and sizes and have been very well adopted in household and commercial lighting for more than a century.

Their widespread universal usage was based on good performance, reliability and the lack of any better alternative.

During the past few years, the industrial interiors trend has really taken off using vintage, reclaimed or retro-inspired furniture and fittings. This popularity has been achieved by suppliers restoring them to their former glory, paying particular attention to surfaces, finishes, unique quirks and original imperfections, and bringing them all together to showcase design creativity.

It is no surprise that vintage lighting has had a similar resurgence, particularly to complement retro interiors, and this had led to the interest in incandescent lighting being reignited.

This time, however, with the advent of modern lighting technology and its most used buzzword in the past decade, LED has rapidly become a

56 June/July 2016

seen an enormous leap from its early performance to delivering a range of white colour temperatures. This is in stark contrast to the warm and cosy ambient light so appealing and unique to incandescent lamps.

We are now able to see a range of colour temperatures being accurately mimicked in LED, particularly with the advent of LED filament lamps, which are able to recreate the familiar warm glow that was previously the sole domain of traditional incandescent bulbs. Not only does the latest generation of LED filament lamps replicate the traditional lighting ambience, it also delivers two critical improvements – a 10 times longer lifespan while providing staggering energy savings of up to 85%. Add to this the ability of LED filament lamps to achieve any colour temperature with clearer, brighter and dimmable light output and it is easy to see why designers, architects, and shopfitters are rapidly embracing the versatility offered by this new LED technology.

Not only does the latest generation of LED filament lamps replicate the traditional lighting ambience, it also delivers two critical improvements

definite game changer. With the arrival of LED filament technology, there are some major shifts in the way we are lighting our interiors and, now that an alternative has been developed, we take a look at the way our lighting – nostalgic or not – is evolving for the better.

Performance LED lighting has been around for a little longer than a decade in commercially viable options. Significantly, even during the past year, continual development and technological advances have

Technology To better explain the performance characteristics of LED filament lamps, it is wise to consider the technological features and advantages. LED filament lamps incorporate all the design-favoured aesthetics, the warm glow given off by the lamp, beautifully encased in glass covers – which add a reflectional dimension with vintage brass lamp holders.

In essence, it is the recreation of a classic. One could argue that only a discerning lighting buyer would notice that the

This really starts becoming crucial, where these lamps are installed en masse and, in a single installation of 100 lamps – typical across a 100-seater Reliability restaurant – then this saving Incandescent lamps have would become very important been relied upon in numerous to the business owner or applications for decades. bill payer. These incredible One of their most favoured savings then translate environments for into extremely short installation is that payback times, so of hospitality the argument to interiors consider LED including filament lamps pubs, bars, is compelling. restaurants, Energy saved by Added to cafes and using LED instead the fantastic hotels plus energy savings, a handful of of incandescent a similar level retail outlets. bulbs of carbon is saved However, with thereby ensuring no viable alternative a valuable contribution to in the past, we have learned protecting the environment. to accept the high temperatures generated from these lamps, as Cost well as their unreliability and It’s true to say that the cost frequent failure. Where they of raw materials used in all are installed in high volume, manufacturing scenarios it is common to find lamps falls in line with increased being blown, not working and production volumes. This requiring constant lamp swap relationship is particularly outs. Indeed the high operating true in new technologies heat of the wire filaments is such as LED lighting where, one of the main culprits. as more users adopt the By contrast, technologically technology, the pricing advanced LED filaments suffer improves. Furthermore, none of these problems, and are the combination of lower proven to offer a lifespan of up purchasing prices with to 10 times that of incandescent dramatically reduced energy filaments. The average and maintenance costs lifespan of an incandescent frequently results in extremely bulb is around 2,000 hours short payback periods. compared to 20,000 hours or more of its LED equivalent.

Guarantee Reputable manufacturers Energy saving will be keen to show existing There is certainly a huge LED filament installations energy-saving benefit to to potential customers and replacing energy-hungry provide comprehensive incandescent lamps with details of energy and carbon LED lamps. A standard savings for comparison incandescent filament lamp against those featuring would consume 60 watts, for traditional incandescent example. Its LED rival would lighting. Furthermore, use a mere 6W in comparison, the same manufacturers to provide an equivalent light should also offer genuine output. To demonstrate the guarantees for their products point, we like to say that the that are unmatchable by cheapest kilowatt is the one producers of traditional you don’t use – by dropping incandescent lamps. te 54W you are saving 90% on ledecolights.com the energy consumption. filament light source is not traditional but a cutting-edge modern LED equivalent.

90%

theenergyst.com

Optimise your critical site efficiently and cost effectively Register to receive your free copy of Mission Critical Power

.uk ower ticalp oncri 16 missi e 20

E 5: ISSU

for ntives Ince r-scale le smal tors in ra r gene

08

powe y rd jepa

s: A ogrid Micr ntury ce 21 st critical for tion solu users r powe

32

Jun

heat door can rs Rear ange exch ffective -e a cost oling offer ch to co oa appr

34

ns ectio ture conn fu e y iv g t r e va le en Inno e 12 flexib ory, pag a r fo st r e v co See

missioncriticalpower.uk/subscribe

LIGHTING

Helvar takes control Helvar’s intelligent lighting control system is an integral part of its recently opened new headquarters

L

ighting technology company Helvar’s new headquarters in Espoo, Finland, brings together product management, research and development, sales, marketing, technical support and customer service functions into one location from three separate sites.

An integral feature of the new headquarters is Helvar’s intelligent lighting controls technology. It will allow it to accommodate the different type of spaces and tasks that take place in the facility and use the building as efficiently as possible.

These include the capability to use informal areas for short discussions and meetings and also to take advantage of mobile connectivity for those who need to work on the go.

The intelligent lighting controls system deploys automated solutions

that enable the technology to adjust to natural light levels, time of day and the colour temperature needed, pre-programmed or self-learning. Wireless and DALI devices will combine to create versatile and personalised spaces for employees, allowing them to customise the lighting in their own work areas to suit personal preferences.

Helvar’s marketing director Lars Hellström says: “The company is at an exciting point in its growth and a significant part of that future is our developments in wired and wireless lighting control solutions and cloud services.

“The new head office in Espoo supports with its enhanced environment new ways of working that allow us to excel in these developments. It will allow us to bring added value to our customers and partners.” te helvar.com

Light fantastic: Helvar’s new headquarters

Self-learning systems Helvar’s Active+ is an out-of-the-box standalone solution consisting of an LED driver and small sensor built into the luminaire. Luminaires fitted with Active+ solution are suitable for refurbishment projects, as well as for new offices, corridors, open plan areas and storage areas. Active+ uses 60-100 hours to learn about its environment – external daylight conditions, and other luminaires around it. Compared with a simple switched luminaire, Active+ brings added features a presence detection, daylight harvesting and seamless and comfortable dimming for greater energy savings.

An Aura of efficiency Swedish lighting company Aura Light has been awarded the Global Efficiency Medal by the high-level global forum The Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM).

The company received the prize for the world’s most energyefficient lighting in the Commercial Planar Luminaires category with its LED panel Aura Lunaria.

Aura Light received the Super-efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment (SEAD) Global Efficiency Medal in the categories for Europe and Australia as well as the overall global prize.

58 June/July 2016

The awardwinning Aura Lunaria LED panel

The award ceremony took place in San Francisco in connection with the seventh Clean Energy Ministerial

meeting (CEM7) in May. The participants at the meeting were energy ministers and other high-level delegates from the 23 participating CEM countries and the European Commission.

Aura Light International CEO Martin Malmros says: “This is an international competition to stimulate the usage of energy-efficient products and we competed against large global lighting companies. This award has opened up new possibilities for us and we have received a lot of positive attention, especially in the US.” auralight.com

theenergyst.com

!"#$%&'()*

!"#$%&'()*)!"#$%&'()+,-,.'/0,

Tri-Load is a UK specific distribution board which squarely *<<#&..&.$.&,*#*+&$&(&#>?$%"('+"#'(>$)"#$,"=&#@$-'>:+'(>$*(<$ %&/:*('/*-$.&#6'/&.@$"))&#'(>$+:&$'<&*-$."-5+'"($)"#$/"%,-'*(/&$ ='+:$A*#+$B3$")$+:&$C5'-<'(>$D&>5-*+'"(.7 • •

!"#$%&'()*+,+-'./+

•

E"('+"#.$+:#&&$'(<&,&(<&(+$-"*<$+?,&.$)#"%$"(&$<'>'+*-$ %5-+'F)5(/+'"($%&+&#7$ Can be configured to operate as tri-load, or dual-load, 5.'(>$*$.'%,-&$.&+$5,$",+'"(7$ Allows users to identify various different load combinations depending on the project metering requirements.

Tri-Load Renewable, supports the growing integration of renewable energy sources in modern buildings such as micro ='(<$*(<$AG$.?.+&%.7$ • •

Integration of AC supplies from renewable sources within the final distribution board.

Provides separate kWh figures for power, lighting and export energy from renewables in one board simplifying integration of &(&#>?$<*+*7$ !"--"=$5.$"($ ;='++&#

!"#$%"#&$'()"#%*+'"($,-&*.&$/"(+*/+$ 0100$220$3241$"#$/5.+"%&#.&#6'/&7589:*6&--.7/"%

;#5.+&<$.='+/:>&*#$+&/:("-">?

Tri-Load.indd 1

:*6&--.7/"758

17/07/2015 13:05:24

VIEWPOINT

The price of indecision?

Energy Managers Association CEO Lord Redesdale says the low carbon economy is coming but in the short term we will have a price to pay

O

ne of the great joy of politics is the belief by the electorate that government has a long-term plan that is based on sober reflection and careful planning.

This, of course, is true to a small degree but mostly rubbish. A clear example is the present fiasco of the longterm and, more importantly for politicians, short-term problem with generating capacity. For the first time since 1882 recently, there was no power generated on the grid that had not been generated by coal.

There are a number of reasons for this notably the traditional summer shut down for maintenance but a more fundamental issue is the closure of a significant number of coal plants with more closures on the way.

Why is this important?

The answer is simple coal plants are old inefficient and at present uneconomic.

However, the opening point was about politicians. The really worrying thing is that most politicians have no idea that this is happening and that there will be a gap between supply and demand next winter.

Crunch time The 2016-17 crunch has been talked about for the past 10 years. The reason it was called a crunch is that the new fleet of nukes was due to go online in 2018. This seems like a rather poor joke at the moment. Indeed with the threat of strikes by French

60 June/July 2016

Politically we are heading towards a low carbon era.

In reality that may come with a power shortage price tag

nuclear power plant workers, the 5-7% of our power we get over the interconnector may be at threat. Politically we are heading towards a low carbon era. In reality that may come with a power shortage price tag.

The next question is what is the solution? There must be a plan. The answer is yes and no, yes but mainly no.

Demand-side response is seen as the silver bullet. While there is a major untapped reserve of power that can be shifted through demand response, the financial incentives and the risk of passing power control to a third party means most energy managers will not be quick to grab this opportunity. There are far greater returns on investment on simple energy reduction measures without the risk attached which makes DR an aspiration at present for most energy managers rather than a top priority.

Considering this is a policy objective of the government, how will they make this measure happen?

Price rises may be the obvious answer, with the introduction of peak time prices that are severe enough to either reduce demand or make DSR an attractive proposition. Increasing power bills although almost certain to take place will not be politically attractive.

The idea that politicians control the price of energy is ingrained in the mind of the public. Cheap unlimited energy is seen as almost a human right with the banishment of fuel poverty an attainable goal. When this turns out not to be the case there will be a very real backlash and although the present government is not solely responsible, as the problem has been in the making for the past 30 years, they will carry the can.

The Tories have certainly not improved the situation with the single-minded obsession to shut down the renewable sector but they will also be in the firing line for ignoring the problem.

The problem with the present situation is that there is no single silver bullet. The lack of generating capacity can be corrected but not in the short or even probably the medium term and certainly without vast investment that has not been budgeted for.

It is slightly ironic that the party that has shown least willingness to address climate change will be responsible for lowering the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s emissions through simply generating less. Politics is a funny old world. te theema.org.uk

theenergyst.com

Energy World ñ monthly magazine to keep you up≠ to≠ date with the industryí s latest advances and trends Energy Matrix ñ a vast online vault of information on all aspects of energy Energy management training ñ

a step≠ by≠ step approach to energy management training

Staff awareness ñ

an innovative online tool, EnergyAware, to develop energy ef ciency awareness in the workplace

Chartered Energy Manager ñ

professional title unique to the EI

Register of Professional Energy Consultants (RPEC)

ñ a list of the best quali ed consultants on the energy ef ciency market

Energy Institute ñ the place to be for energy managers

EI_EnergyManagers.indd 1

POWER FOR THE NEXT GENERATION SECURITY OF SUPPLY WITH PROTECTION AGAINST VOLTAGE DIPS & HIKES + ENERGY SAVINGS

12/17/2015 4:50:18 PM

Published 2016

The Heat Report THE EXPERTLY ENGINEERED 2-IN-1 AMORPHOUS TRANSFORMER SOLUTION With ever increasing concerns over grid supply and the challenge of meeting lower energy usage targets, the Wilson e2+ provides security of supply with associated benefits from voltage management and reduced transformer losses.

FIND OUT HOW YOUR ORGANISATION CAN BENEFIT, CALL OUR ENGINEERING TEAM:

CALL +44 (0)113 271 7588 www.wilsonpowersolutions.co.uk

Download your copy now at theenergyst.com

FUTURE SAFE YOUR SITE The e2+ is the only distribution transformer to EXCEED TIER 2 EU ECO DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS

COMING INTO FORCE 2021 Produced by

Supported by

EVENT NEWS

Resource efficiency A global showcase to inspire innovation and resource efficiency – RWM 2016, the Energy Event, the Renewables Event and the Water Event all in one location

W

ith policy change amass and technological advances in abundance, there is now more reasons to visit RWM 2016 and its three co-located shows: The Energy Event, the Renewables Event and the Water Event. This year the event, which takes place at the NEC, Birmingham from 13-15 September, promises to stimulate and attract the attention of the broadest cross-sector audience at the international showcase of resource and waste management innovation.

Event organiser i2i Events Group, in partnership with the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management, will explore and highlight a variety of initiatives, products and services to encourage globally sustainable models of resource efficiency.

RWM is also a rich environment for professional development in the waste management industry. A new must-see attraction of the show is RWM Future Cities, which is a key theme of the event. A trail will lead visitors throughout the show, drawing their attention to new innovative technologies and infrastructure that will shape the future resource efficiency in urban areas. Not only will it provide industry-leading solutions for private and public sector organisations, it will deliver networking and sales opportunities for suppliers and a readymade audience with both an interest in technology and the capability to invest.

RWM 2016 continues to

62 June/July 2016

It also provides extensive access across the Energy, Water and Renewables co-located shows ensuring visitors looking for leading insight, trends and solutions to resource efficiency have only one event they need to attend this year

provide industry-leading insight and access to the latest sustainable solutions across a number of key areas: machinery and equipment, handling and logistics zone, recycling and reprocessing technologies zone, professional services and the energy from waste zone.

Bringing together the entire resource ecosystem gives visitors the opportunity to explore further afield with three co-located shows that promise to be insightful, inspiring and innovative.

The three additional twoday shows on 13-14 September, will provide a platform for cross-sector networking, boosting synergies and encouraging achievable strategies to be considered.

The Energy Event is the UK’s leading event for energy and utilities procurement professionals and brings together the supply and demand side industry to help influence the way energy is bought and managed.

The Renewables Event is the only show of its kind dedicated to supporting those investing into renewable energy production and micro-generation. This show offers insight into the

spectrum of technologies and applications available, investment opportunities, policy insight, case studies and practical strategic guidance.

The Water Event promotes the efficient consumption, management and procurement of this most precious resource, water. The two days will include industry insight, promoting achievable strategies and showcase valuable case studies.

Barry Dennis, chair of RWM, said: “RWM is now a well-established and a much anticipated event in the industry calendar, attracting exhibitors and visitors from across the globe. It is always an exciting event whereby industry-leading innovative ideas and business models are shared and propelled into the international limelight. This year will be no exception, with opportunities for organisations and professionals to drive business growth and seek solutions within their specific sectors.

“It also provides extensive access across the Energy, Water and Renewables co-located shows ensuring visitors looking for leading insight, trends and solutions to resource efficiency have only one event they need to attend this year!”

Each event will once again feature a packed schedule of informative workshops, keynote speeches, seminars and surgery sessions.

This year’s sponsors include key industry players, such as Suez, NRG Fleet Service, Stobart Biomass Products and Viridor. te rwmexhibition.com

theenergyst.com

WATER MANAGEMENT

Specialist helps Tesco make informed decision In preparation for English market opening, Tesco commissioned independent water specialist Waterscan to look at how it could optimise current supply agreements in Scotland, where retail competition already exists

U

transparency and to guarantee sing Waterscan’s value for clients in line with Water Supply their long term strategic goals.

Procurement service Waterscan draws on a large, and overlaying this constantly updated bank of with the consulting team’s market data within Waterline, insight into water charging its online water management systems enabled Tesco to make system, to determine the an informed decision about best possible solutions its water retailer and save available for each customer. £750,000 on its water Chebib concludes: costs. This has now “Waterscan’s approach set a benchmark was comprehensive and for best practice Market opening will professionally independent with ahead of English allow customers to shop Tesco’s best interests at the core market opening around for the best deals The value of the of their work. We would have in April 2017. water market no hesitation in recommending Catherine businesses across the country Neil Pendle, Waterscan’s services for water Chebib, buying will need to overcome these managing in England and procurement and look forward manager – if they are to truly benefit director at Wales to working with them again renewable energy from market opening. Our Waterscan, when the competitive market and environmental mission is to ensure that all explains: “With opens in England in 2017.” generation technologies customers achieve the best 1.2 million customers In addition to Tesco, at Tesco, says: “Through possible outcome for their and a total market value of Waterscan has partnered working with Waterscan, we water supply agreements. £2.4bn, England is the largest with Tarmac, Sainsbury’s and have secured the best deal That’s why we developed our retail water market in the The Restaurant Group on possible while ensuring all our client-focused Water Supply world. With a wide variety water supply procurement key supply criteria have been Procurement Service.” of challenges such as price achieving, on average, satisfied. Waterscan tailored Waterscan is independent variations, metering issues, savings in excess of 20%. te the tendering process to fit and takes no commission from billing inefficiencies and overly waterscan.com existing Tesco procurement water suppliers, to ensure the complex tariff structures, practices, ensuring it integrated smoothly with our usual systems. It utilised its deep insight into water company charging structures 1. Strategy development: Define a strategy for the next five years to deliver on key drivers to assist with shortlisting including service, flexibility, costs and terms.

2. Solution design: Develop a complete water consumption data-set for supplier comparison, and the final selection while setting out desirable contract terms and cost reduction targets. of supplier.”

3. Virtual RFP: Conduct a pre-tender review of available options looking at pricing, servicing, Waterscan’s Water Supply innovation and added value services such as AMR. Procurement Service is 4. Competitive tender: Run an outsourced end-to-end tender process incorporating supplier designed to guide businesses selection, RFP preparation, supplier management and negotiation. and large organisations in any 5. Contract negotiation: Provide expert advice to procurement teams to deliver the best commercial sector towards outcome, looking at flexibility, improved SLAs and further cost savings. their optimum solution in 6. Water bureau: Conduct ongoing price benchmarks and supplier management to deliver terms of service and cost, as against the strategic plan.

£2.4bn

Six steps to a successful supply strategy

theenergyst.com

June/July 2016

63

WATER MANAGEMENT

Hit the limescale sweet spot Limescale solution cuts downtime and maintenance at global food manufacturer

A

global food manufacturer has realised benefits through the adoption of a limescale prevention water treatment system from Sentinel Commercial.

Limescale issues previously affected the batch sugar dissolution tank feed system at one of the manufacturer’s UK plants. The Sentinel solution has avoided unscheduled downtime, increasing component longevity and saving on production costs.

The plant is located in an area served by medium hardness mains water.

Limescale is a potential problem in all hard water areas, and even more so where process water temperature is elevated (as calcium salts exhibit inverse solubility as temperatures rise) and there is a phosphate component in the mains water. Such is the case with a particular process at the manufacturing plant, the batch sugar dissolution

tank feed system, where large amounts of granulated sugar are dissolved in hot water at 80°C using a stirrer. The water for dissolving the sugar is pre-heated in a separate vessel with a steam jacket lining.

Prior to adopting KalGUARD, the vessel suffered from hard and tenacious limescale deposits on its inner surfaces, as might be expected of water heated to this high temperature. The deposits were causing a number of costly and disruptive issues such as blockages, damaging pump impellers and the tank had to be taken out of service for deep cleaning, resulting in unscheduled downtime.

In order to ameliorate the limescale issues, a dual water feed system had to be installed so the plant could at least complete its required production.

To permanently prevent limescale affecting the sugar dissolving process, the site’s engineering management team purchased a 28mm

Prior to adopting KalGUARD, the vessel used for dissolving the sugar suffered from hard and tenacious limescale deposits on its inner surfaces, causing a number of costly and disruptive issues

KalGUARD system from Sentinel Commercial.

KalGUARD is a WRASapproved electrolytic scale inhibitor device for commercial hot water systems, and represents a low maintenance way (a twice annual service is all that is recommended) to protect facilities against the damaging and expensive impact of limescale. The technology it uses is listed in the Building Services Compliance Guide to Part L of the UK Building Regulations and has been

independently proven by Cranfield University as effective in preventing limescale build-up.

KalGUARD works by releasing tiny amounts of zinc into the water which turns deposit-forming calcite (limescale) into non deposit-forming aragonite.

The manufacturer has since installed two further KalGUARD units in order to treat all of the factory’s process water and mains water supplies. te sentinelprotects.com

ESG wins Ally Pally treatment contract ESG has been awarded a two-year contract to carry out water monitoring, assessment and treatment works by Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust. Following a competitive tender process, the iconic north London venue, affectionately known as ‘Ally Pally’, is now benefitting from a wide range of specialist water hygiene services.

Large, historic buildings will often have central hot water storage with extensive pipework.

64 June/July 2016

During the summer months especially, these can potentially provide an ideal breeding ground for harmful bacteria, such as Legionella, which is why conscientious building

managers must take steps to minimise the risk. Under health and safety law, property owners and facilities managers have a legal obligation to safeguard a building’s water users by

identifying, managing and controlling sources at risk.

ESG’s contract at Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust addresses these requirements, and includes regular bacterial analysis of the building’s closed circuits and domestic services.

ESG’s water management team will also monitor the temperature of the Palace’s water system and provide softener services to minimise the risk of water contamination. esg.co.uk

theenergyst.com

Keep up to date with The Energyst Read more: News Opinions Case studies

Register for:

Publications e:newsletters

Manage your subscription

PRODUCTS A compelling case for energy efficiency Bowman Power Group provides a “compelling moral, economic and environmental argument” for more efficient use of fossil fuels, says CEO Toby King.

At the heart of Bowman’s case is the company’s electro turbo compounding (ETC) energy recovery technology, which converts waste energy from a generator set (genset) exhaust stream into free, useful, power.

While, as King makes clear, there is a moral imperative behind the development of ‘clean’ technology, there is also a straightforward business case to be made.

“There are hundreds of thousands of engines and generators around the world providing distributed power for islands, remote communities and various industries,” he points out. “The efficiency of those gensets is typically less than 40%

– so more than three-fifths of the energy that is in the fuel is being wasted as heat and CO2 emissions from those engines.”

With fuel typically accounting for 50 to 80% of total ownership costs over the lifetime of a genset project, Bowman’s ability to provide improved efficiency and reduced cost offers a “compelling value proposition”, adds King.

Pioneering poultry system opts for CPV Hiline When designing and installing a biomass CHP system for a large Nottinghamshire poultry farm, renewable energy specialist C&H Biomass chose two of the CPV Hiline range of pre-insulated pipe systems for use in the project’s buried LTHW network.

Thought to be the first project of its kind in the UK, the system uses poultry litter as a fuel for a biomass CHP system that generates both heat and electrical power for the family-run poultry business Germany Farms at its Muskham Wood site.

The technology employed

66 June/July 2016

combusts the site’s poultry litter in a 2MW boiler and, via an ORC (organic rankine cycle) engine, converts some of the heat energy into electrical power for use on site, with any surplus power being sold and exported back into the grid.

The remaining heat energy is then distributed across the site in a 1.5km buried preinsulated LTHW network operating at 85°C to feed the space heating requirements for 16 poultry sheds, with a centralised 240,000 litre thermal storage tank buffering the heat load for optimal system efficiency.

Ed Caldecott, director of CH Biomass, says: “Having researched the systems available to us, we opted for CPV’s Hiline range of preinsulated pipes as not only did it have a good reputation, but it also gave us a choice of service pipe materials. The network’s design called for a variety of sizes, so we chose a traditional pre-insulated steel pipe for certain sections and a flexible pre-insulated PEX for the remainder.” cpv.co.uk

“The benefit for our customers is competitive advantage in that they are able to offer a more efficient genset with a higher power output to their customers, the end users. The benefit to the end users, of course, is that they need to pay for less fuel or for fewer gensets to produce the same amount of energy.” bowmanpower.com

Royal Wharf’s CHP adds to sustainability London has taken a further step forwards in the drive to be a sustainable city with the adoption of Veolia’s latest combined heat and power (CHP) technology in the billion-pound new Docklands development at Royal Wharf.

Designed to supply low carbon energy, this latest application will power 20,000 Londoners in five years and contribute to reducing London’s carbon emissions by 60% by 2025.

Part of the giant Royal Docks vision, Royal Wharf is the biggest new Docklands neighbourhood since Canary Wharf was built and the development will house a new community in 3,385 modern homes and businesses. The energy needs of the people on the 40 acre site, with an energy centre from MEP Contractor Cilantro Engineering, will be supplied by a Veolia CHP unit that drives a modern district heating network.

The use of this latest generation of CHP technology effectively supports key London programmes like home energy efficiency and

decentralised energy, through effective capture and use of the heat generated as part of the electricity generation process.

CHP technology is more than twice as energy efficient as separate grid supplies.

As a further measure to reduce London’s atmospheric emissions, the new 1MWe CHP uses innovative technology, such as selective catalytic reduction, which further reduces NOx emissions to 95mg/nm3. Due to start operating in August 2016 the unit has a class leading 43.5% electrical efficiency. veolia.co.uk

theenergyst.com

Product & Services Directory Contact Harry Powell Tel 020 3751 7863 Mob 07557 109476

Enclosed models of Vacon drives

The VACON 100 range of AC variable speed drives from Danfoss Drives has been extended to include standard enclosed drives supplied ready for immediate installation and commissioning. With a choice of IP21 or IP54 ingress protection ratings, the new drives include an auxiliary front door to provide safe access to control circuits.

When it becomes necessary to access the control section of the drive, this can be reached through the small auxiliary door in the front of the enclosure,

ENERGY METERING & MONITORING SYSTEMS without the need to open the full-height main door. In this way, the low voltage area can be reached without the safety risks associated with exposing the high voltage sections of the drive.

Another important feature of the new VACON 100 enclosed drives is the cooling channel design. Integrated du/dt filters and common mode output filters enable efficient back channel cooling to be used and, in the IP54 versions, no additional air filters are needed in the main cooling airflow.

The IP21 versions of the drives, which are intended for installation in control rooms and similar environments, and the IP54 versions, which can be used in demanding environments without further protection, are both available with power ratings up to 630 kW on 400 V supplies and 800 kW on 690 V supplies.

Drives in the VACON 100 range are suited to a wide range of applications. Energy efficiency and productivity gains mean that, in almost every case, the savings made will quickly repay the cost. vacon.co.uk

Updated edition of white paper offers new perspectives on energy management British businesses need to take a structured, technology-led approach to on-site energy management, in order to overcome the systematic energy waste that drives up CO2 emissions and energy bills.

This is the message of a revised and updated version of a white paper published by Priva UK. The white paper, Taking a structured approach to energy management, was originally produced in 2014 in response to the widespread problem of energy waste in the UK’s building stock.

The free-to-download white paper from Priva UK is aimed at facilities managers,

theenergyst.com theenergyst.com

PUMPING EQUIPMENT AND CONTROLS

ï Water Pressure Booster Sets ï Pressurisation Units ï Water Storage Solutions ï Tank Level and Temperature Controls !"#$%&'%()*+",&-.+/*)$&01)%2*/-+& 3#(+4&5(."%(/6&7%$,,*%$&8$,,$/,&& 2.)&2&9$,'(4$&:$,-;.&3$%<-+$

0$2)&!==-+$> 01206 215121 ?2.+#$,"$%>&0161 226 4727

www.aquatechpressmain.co.uk

CALIBRATION SERVICES

!"#$%&'(()%*$+%,'&-.% /0123405267%$8492:8;

!!!!!!! !!!!!!!"! !!!!!!!"! !!!!!!!"!

#$%&$'()*'$ +*%,-,). /$0!&1,2)

3*4),&1,2)!5$251'!6(4,7'(),128 910!%$(5*'$%$2)!*26$')(,2),$58 :44!%(2*;(6)*'$'5<!,25)'*%$2)58 =1)'12,6!&*'&15$>7*,4)! ?@:A!6(4,7'(),12!4(71'()1'.8 B(5)!)*'2('1*2-!),%$5!(2-!

61%&$),),C$!&',6$58 <+=<+>*/%*>$=<!?@>=$%A=B% =81C%&,-DE%.',&&&

@F021C%27;54GF875;H4654672:I:6IGJ KKKI4654672:I:6IGJ

building managers and energy managers. It provides a clear, easy-to-understand briefing on energy management: what’s driving it; how it intersects with energy monitoring and behavioural change; and how technology can play a crucial role.

The white paper is available to download for free at the Priva website. priva.co.uk/energy

To feature your company’s products or services on these pages call Harry Powell on 020 3751 7863 or 07557 109476 June/July 2016 June/July 20166767

Product & Services Directory Contact Harry Powell Tel 020 3751 7863 Mob 07557 109476 AIR CONDITIONING

COMPRESSED AIR

BOILERS

EUROPE’S LARGEST INDEPENDENT DAIKIN DISTRIBUTOR

ENERGY MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

!"#$%&'!(()*)#"+',)$' -./0$#11.$1 ● !"#$%&'2#*.3#$&' 4&1+#/1 ● -./0$#11#5',)$'6#78' 9#+#*+)." ● ,)$'-./0$#11.$'4#$3)*)"% ● !"#$%&'!(()*)#"*&',:5)+1 ●

Daikin finished goods and spare parts since 1980.

Call now for the best prices and availability!

0333 0069 754 !"#"$%%%&'()*"+,-.,-/ High efficiency (>98%) 3 Minute start up time Skid package units

;#<='>?@AB'CD>D@@ EEEF/7++#)F*.F:8

Nobody know s Daikin better

www.spaceair.co.uk DIGITAL MEDIA

BOILER CONTROLS !

!!!!!!!

!"#$%&!'%()!*+*,#%&-#-.,)*./!)0*,#0'#,)+%$# /0.1+*,#%&-#%&(.11%*2#+3!.4$+&)#

!

NT

!

"#$%&'('!)*+,'!#-!.('*$!/#0&').!-)#$!123,45)!(#!667222!8,45)! !

9%':0*&0.(.!0+!)';<:(0#+!#-!"=>!!'$0..0#+.!

!

E&*+(!)##$.!*+;!.80;!*..'$/&0'.!/<0&(!(#!*+C!:)0(')0*! !

F';0:*(';!.')G0:'!('*$!(#!*))*+,'!/#0&')!.')G0:'.7!:*&&#<(.7! :5'$0:*&!:&'*+.!*+;!HFI!I'.(.!'(:J! !

!

!

B!K0;'!)*+,'!#-!.%*)'!%*)(.!*G*0&*/&'! !

!

ENERGY MANAGEMENT

HO

M CR

I':5+0:*&!.<%%#)(!&0+'!

B++<*&!.')G0:'!:#+()*:(.!*G*0&*/&'!K0(5!#%(0#+*&!>L4M!:#G')!

C OG T OL MEN HN LOP CY

E

IT

W

HO

!

B&&!*+:0&&*)C!/#0&')!5#<.'!'D<0%$'+(!.<%%&0';!

)+15#67899#88:966# ;;;<=>?@ABCDE?F=<GC<HI# =@E?=J=>?@ABCDE?F=<GC<HI#

CU FTWAT FTPW MENT O T EN SOR ESC OP OJ GEM YM E TVSEL R P NA RGO ISE RE MA EST ARLE D A N I ECU ETCWA FTW SSPOF LOUSDOY C Y OG TTS G L N R E HNIOALOLPIMSENCY N E TECECEVE LTA SIPTE DCOLNOSUUD Y BS

M CR

!

?')(0:*&7!@#)0A#+(*&7!*($#.%5')0:7!'&':()0:*&7!#0&7!,*.!*+;!%)#%*+'!

PTSING PPTSING P A S A S

!

E NT T RP LOPM EC EME J E O E E PR NAG OM EV MA ST RE D AR

C E AN TE E DEV SULT

To feature your company’s products or services on these pages call Harry Powell on 020 3751 7863 or 07557 109476

68 June/July 2016

✔ Cloud based energy management software ✔ M&V project tracking in line with IPMVP ✔ Intelligent energy analysis and reporting ✔ Fully branded dashboards ✔ Energy App Market ✔ Works with all major hardware

Tel: 0207 8496947 uk@dexmatech.com www.dexmatech.com

SIT

EB

W

IT

N CO

email: info@redfishuk.com phone: 01536 527150 www.redfishuk.com email: info@redfishuk.com phone: 01536 527150 www.redfishuk.com

theenergyst.com

ENERGY PROCUREMENT

FLOWMETERS

VALVES

PUBLICATIONS

The Directors' Energy Report 2016

➡ Multi-Site Energy Software ➡ Energy Procurement ➡ Network/Levies/Commodity Budget Modelling ➡ Risk Management

Download your copy now at theenergyst.com/ directors

➡ Energy Contracts Legal Analysis

Produced by

Supported by

info@pulsebusinessenergy.co.uk

Demand Side

T: 0333 7000 250

Response

www.pulsebusinessenergy.co.uk

Bringing businesses into balancing 2015 Report

RENEWABLE POWER SOLUTIONS HUMIDITY, TEMPERATURE & CO2 MEASUREMENT

Download your copy now at theenergyst.com/dsr

Produced by

The distributor’s distributor for valves and associated products including...

Supported by

Demand Response Report 28pp.indd 1

TEMPERATURE SENSOR

!"#$$%&'()#$#*+%,(-$.'(,(+/ #+$/'.,(+/$%0*'%-11%#+2.$/'#($ !!!!!!! "! #$%&$'()*'$ "! +*%,-,). "! /0,1)*'$ "! 203!-$3!&0,4) "! 567!,4-00'!(,'!8*(9,). "! :'0;$11!&'$11*'$ "! <,==$'$4),(9!&'$11*'$ "! >,'=903 +(4-?$9-1@!90AA$'1!,4;B! 3,'$9$11@&'0C$1!=0'!(99! (&&9,;(),041@)'(41%,))$'1@! >#DE@!%$)$0&'0-*;)1@! (;;$110',$1B

8/12/15 9:07 AM

Published 2016

The Heat Report

BSI & EN331 Gas Approved Valves Tel: 01773 521555 Fax: 0800 3896849 Email: info@leengatevalves.co.uk Web: leengatevalves.co.uk

VEHICLES

Download your copy now at theenergyst.com Produced by

Supported by

Financing

FG>H!IJKK!L!MH6!NJI7O! 5(9,C'(),04!H$'P,;$1

Energy Efficiency 2015 Report

34534678%76!539:;65!%<5= 5(1>%%?@ABC%DE@???

;,-#1>%#+$/'.,(+/$F'*/'*+#)G)*G.H %"""G'*/'*+#)G)*G.H

Produced by

theenergyst.com

Supported by

June/July 2016

69

Q&A

Andy Lewry The principal consultant, Sustainable Energy Team (SET) at the Building Research Establishment on Donald Trump, the Moon landings and cricket

a better place, there’s too much misery around.

Who would you least like to share a lift with? Why? Donald Trump, because I get enough rhetoric doing my job.

You’re God for the day.

What’s the first thing that you do?

Send politicians, lawyers and estate agents to the stars, AKA Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

What would you do with a million pounds?

Retire and do the things I always wanted to do. Learn a language and a musical instrument and have nothing more to do with science.

I’d change people’s mood to fun and cheerful. It would make the world a better place

What’s your greatest extravagance?

Watching test match cricket at least 10 times a year.

If you could travel back in time to a period in history, what would it be and why?

1969; the Moon landing and birth of heavy rock.

Who or what are you enjoying listening to?

Three Days Grace, fresh energetic and loud.

What unsolved mystery would you like the answers to?

Who shot JFK? What would you take to a desert island and why?

Record player, vinyl and big speakers.

Lewry would like travel back in time… and transport a few politicians to the stars at the same time

What’s your favourite film or book and why?

Book: Lord of the Rings because of the depth of world he created.

Film: Animal House – a true innovative comedy ruined by the franchise repeating the theme.

If you could perpetuate a myth about yourself, what would it be?

That I’ve actually got a sense of humour that everyone appreciates.

Rhetoric: Donald Trump

70 June/July 2016

What would your super power be and why?

The ability to change people’s mood to fun and cheerful.

It would make the world

If you were blessed with any talent, what would your dream job be and why?

I would have loved to have been a test match cricketer.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

Put up or shut up – ie don’t talk it, do it. It was what my first cricket captain used to say.

What irritates you the most in life?

Discrimination in all of its forms.

What should energy managers be doing to help themselves in the current climate?

Measure, manage and control.

What’s the best thing – work wise – that you did recently?

I went and gave two keynote speeches in Bucharest and then spent the weekend in the mountains visiting Bran castle. te

theenergyst.com

BUSINESS ENERGY SIMPLIFIED “Given the complex and demanding nature of our portfolio...

We require attention to detail when processing requests.

Opus Energy embraced the challenge by understanding our requirements, adding value and reducing costs.”

WE TAKE CARE OF YOUR ENERGY NEEDS When your entire energy portfolio is being looked after, you can get back to the job in hand.

Over 260,000 UK businesses benefit from Opus Energy’s expert knowledge. With competitive pricing on electricity and gas, accurate billing and award-winning customer service, we aim to make everything effortless – from tender through to renewal.

Get in touch to find out what we can do for your business.

Call 0843 634 0552 or visit: opusenergy.com

OPE8371 210x297 Energyst Ad AW.indd 1

22/04/2016 17:02