ENERGY POWER GENERATION – IMPAC
he race for ‘power’ has an impact upon us all and never more so in times where world politics and global energy demands are clearly at the heart of how our global economy and environment survives.
T
Where our energy comes from is worth considering. As more nations levy a tax on carbon, the relative price of coal will rise in comparison to the cost of cleaner energy sources including renewables. However emerging nations (China and India) will likely forge ahead building new fleets of coal fired plants – regardless of the emissions consequences – as coal reserves they have access to are too abundant and cheap to extract to be ignored. Economic and political gain will drive this.
This presents a call to action for the rest of the world as we are all energy dependant. In the UK if we fail to develop our renewable generation fast enough we will be locked into imported fossil fuels to meet energy demand. It’s a complex, challenging and uncomfortable problem, not least because of the additional carbon emissions that we will be party to creating. Unlike many global challenges however we all can play a real and vital role in the UK in delivering solutions. For those who manage and maintain energy consuming facilities the opportunity to contribute has never been greater. In addition to sourcing power ethically, for environmental protection, the commercial imperative, to be more energy efficient is a priority. The renaming of the CRC to the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme CRCEES should leave us in no doubt of that. It’s time to be energized! Make no excuses, energy is a hot topic and will continue to be so as demand for power in the UK is set to outstrip supply in the not too distant future – some say as early as 2014. Odd then that in the UK 90% of commercial building occupiers are still paying for more energy than they need. Worse they are wasting power because they are not addressing fundamental power quality as it enters their buildings (getting the source right).
Since harmonisation (1996) electrical equipment is manufactured to work most efficiently at EU voltage levels, about 20V below the average supplied voltage in the UK. The national UK over-voltage has wide ranging effects, from increased
38| SUSTAINABLE FM | JUNE 2010
energy consumption to reducing lifespan of electrical equipment. This leads to supplied energy and carbon generation that built environments don’t need and that is quite simply waste. 90% of building managers are therefore potentially missing an opportunity. Feeling uncomfortable? Not heard of the need for Voltage Power Optimisation (VPO)® before? It’s a revelation indeed – and once aware there is a professional call to action to make an immediate and positive impact for all the right reasons. Let’s look at the detail. The power supplied by the Distribution Network has to be at a high level in order support the distances that it has to travel – voltage drops over distance. VPO essentially improves the power quality and adjusts the discrepancy between the average voltage supplied in the UK (average 242V) and the optimum voltage electrical equipment prefers (220V), while essentially cleaning it. It’s a ‘beautifully’ engineered technology which gives businesses, manufacturers, councils and government the opportunity to micro- manage and improve their own power supply. Its unique design also protects electronic and sensitive electrical components from power quality issues which over time degrade equipment. Let’s assess the risks of diminishing
power quality. The power we receive in the UK is not as “clean” as we would like and this poses a business continuity risk. Inferior power quality means replacing equipment before its natural lifespan and higher maintenance costs. Other less subtle impacts will be far more serious. By 2014, at peak demand, the UK may consume 20% more electricity than it can supply (LogicaCMG Whitepaper – Mind the Gap). We’re fast approaching that point – the result will be more switching on the national grid to try and match supply and demand, which is a common source of spikes (transients). These spikes in voltage, and increased harmonics – harmful currents in the supply and produced by your own equipment – are particularly destructive to sensitive circuits. In an IT dependent society these risks are significant and a plan for mitigation is needed. It is worth noting that VPO protects sites from spikes to 25,000V. Is there a national fix? Well no, as we
can’t optimise the entire grid. This is because the distribution network is unable to remove supply over-voltage at the point
of generation whilst maintaining the minimum requirement for 207V at the peripheries of the grid (due to power losses through voltage drop over a wide geographical area.)
As the energy gap looms, power quality and energy security will represent very important challenges to building management. So who should be taking the lead to address these challenges? Those proactively engaged in these challenges will have a ‘to do’ list that looks a bit like this: 1. Gain knowledge about UK electrical energy generation and supply security risks in their buildings
2. How to measure, assess and verify measures which improve electrical energy efficiency and protect security of supply
3. How, through half hourly data analysis and power quality assessment, appropriate action on CO2
reduction and electrical consumption efficiency can be implemented to demonstrate: a. Proactive Social Action b. Corporate Responsibility c. Economic Advantage d. Strategic Leadership e. Operational Continuity
Individuals within the Facilities Management (FM) profession have the opportunity to maximise built environment efficiency by drawing on all aspects of best practice and technology innovation. FM’s will play an increasing role in providing the required validated information and data in regard of the CRCEES as such the reliability and verification of such data will be essential information upon which strategic decisions are made in respect of energy management (carbon reduction and consumption efficiency). It’s an emerging area for professional growth and with energy supply analysis a relatively new concept in the UK, it is unearthing significant opportunity for FM’s to impact the CRC and gain some enhanced professional profiling in the process. Are there any other costs of avoidance and what else has this voltage reality been doing to my portfolio? Over supplied equipment doesn’t perform better with the excess voltage; take a normal 230V rated lamp – when run at 240V, it will fail after 550 hours, instead of 1000, drawing
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64