food & beverage
£70,000 annual cost savings, reducing carbon emissions by 365 tonnes per year. Given this success, Powerstar are now working with Quorn on a further project to investigate additional environmental improvements. VO technology has brought similar benefits for
another client in food and beverage sector. As the largest family-owned food manufacturer and retailer in the North East, M I Dickson has built an enviable reputation for quality and product innovation, with a respect for heritage since 1953. Having inspected one site, Powerstar found the company was operating with a higher than necessary and unstable voltage supply, meaning bigger energy bills and unnecessary carbon emissions. Given this instability, Powerstar recommended voltage optimisation technology, which dynamically regulates incoming voltage levels, with remote monitoring enabling the client to view the system’s performance in real time. Following installation, a comparison of a 35-day period with the same timeframe from the previous year showed a decrease in consumption of more that 8,000 kWh, even as production had increased by 10 per cent. This equates to a reduction of 52.8kWh per tonne of product, a saving of 13 per cent per tonne. The company are now looking to rollout this energy management solution across their other 29 retail sites. Perhaps one of the most significant and cost-
effective options, when looking to Net Zero targets and sustainability, is Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) technology. These are powerful assets, with the capacity and flexibility to offer significant cost savings and introduce new revenue streams, while helping to ensure continued production in the event of power disruption. High on all UK manufacturers’ agendas over the coming months, power supply disruption can be very costly. For one Powerstar client, Parkinson Spencer Refractories (PSR), over a six-month period the company endured six blackouts due to interrupted supply from the National Grid. As a high-value manufacturer of glass industry solutions, each incident was costing the business between £20,000 and £100,000 in lost materials, labour costs and downtime. Having
PSR BESS installation
Inside a BESS
invested in on-site wind turbine energy generation as part of their commitment to sustainability, the company sought the advice of Powerstar’s engineers, to maximise the resilience and energy independence that their own power generation would offer, while looking to cost savings and revenue generation. Powerstar worked with GridBeyond to deliver
PSR’s combined objectives and recommended a 250kW BESS with a 500kVA integrated VO system, both integrated into a containerised on- site unit. The BESS provides an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) to ensure continued production whenever a blackout occurs, while the flexibility of a BESS over a traditional UPS allows for on-site energy to be stored and used when needed, avoiding the problems inherent in inflexible renewable power generation - the company can now store energy generated when weather conditions are right to use that power on calmer, less windy days. This storage capability also allows PSR, through their relationship with
GridBeyond, to participate in grid balancing services - giving them new, regular monthly income. The VO technology is delivering a five per cent reduction in energy costs, and it is anticipated that the entire solution will have paid for itself within two years, while supporting PSR’s sustainability ambitions. Simon Parkinson, managing director at Parkinson Spencer Refractories, commented on the solution, “Given the damaging impact that interruptions to our power supply have caused for such a long time, and the added benefits of reducing our energy consumption and providing an additional revenue stream, the solution provided by Powerstar was a no brainer for our business.” So, going back to Royal Warrants: what
happens now? Are they worth pursuing? It seems clear that an emphasis on sustainability will become ever more important in their grant. For many companies, there will be tangible benefits from such an award - particularly for exporters and for those seeking corporate investment, and any company needing to stand out in a competitive market. With a range of energy management solutions available to help manufacturers demonstrate commitment to a sustainable ethos, the additional benefits in utilising these, both short- and longer-term - power resilience; cost savings; income generation, and control over one’s own energy supply - are compelling reasons to explore these options. Modern energy management technology is helping companies across the UK to negotiate a path through difficult economic times, while plotting their journey to a Net Zero future. To help companies see how much they could
save on energy costs, Powerstar has developed a new energy saving calculator tool. Try it now:
www.powerstar.com/energy-saving-calculator/
Powerstar
www.powerstar.com
info@powerstar.com 0333 230 1327
16 Winter 2022 UKManufacturing
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