RENEWABLE TECHNOLOGIES


REACH FOR RENEWABLES RESPONSIBLY


Standfirst text to go here Understanding how renewable energy can be most efficiently used in buildings can help businesses


make the most of renewable energy from the grid, plus any power they can generate from assets such as solar panels, heat pumps and wind turbines. Siobahn Meikle, UK and Ireland managing director of Eaton, explains how electric vehicles can also be relevant to managing renewable power strategically


A


s Europe considers how best to meet its energy needs in the months ahead,


renewables will be a recurring theme. Already widely regarded as a mainstay of decarbonisation projects, assets such as solar panels are taking on renewed significance. Many businesses have already started developing


decarbonisation strategies to mitigate climate change and their thoughts naturally turn to what they can do to generate some of their own power. What they may not realise is that it is easy to waste renewable energy unless they adopt an approach to maximise the benefits.


STRATEGIC ENERGY USE Businesses will make the biggest immediate difference to the energy transition, simply because of their size. Solar panels on commercial buildings are fast becoming a common sight, and assets such as these are already reducing day-to-day energy costs and providing a degree of energy independence from the grid. This is good for the businesses involved, and


increasingly relevant to the wider community, because businesses that are generating energy renewably on their sites now have both opportunity and incentive to make the best possible use of it within the context of what big energy providers are doing to step up renewable generation on a larger scale. Energy storage systems are important in this


respect, but so too is the strategic use of energy. Charging electric vehicles by using a mixture of stored renewable energy and off-peak power from the grid is a good example of this, and it is how businesses can also get the best out of the time-of-use tariffs that may emerge as energy companies seek to manage national grids more effectively.


INVESTMENTS IN ELECTRIC VEHICLES Electric vehicles are not just about travelling from A to B. Vehicle batteries store significant amounts of energy which means they can constitute an integral part of an on-site energy


www.energymanagementmag.co.uk


management system, whether the site generates some of its own energy or not. EVs can play a role in making better use of


renewable energy simply by storing it when it is most readily available. Instead of fuelling when needed, EV drivers and fleet managers can establish regimes such as overnight charging when demands on the grid are lower and renewable power availability tends to be greater and less expensive. The benefits are multiplied by on site


production. Businesses that generate their own renewable energy from assets such as solar panels or wind turbines, but do not have enough storage when output peaks on a windy or sunny day, may find their EVs fleet is the place for the power to go, to avoid it being wasted. It all comes down to strategy and systems that support intelligent power management.


INTERACTION AT THE GRID EDGE EV charging will be the route into the energy transition for many building owners, but electrification will go much further than this. Buildings will become energy hubs that manage electricity in a very different way. Interaction at the grid edge – the point


where businesses and homes connect to the network – hasn’t altered much for many years, but renewables are changing this, and we may see the pace of change stepped up. Preparing buildings for the energy transition


involves analysing energy management and power distribution needs to define an approach that turns them into energy hubs. Most businesses will benefit from taking advice on this. Although it is tempting for business owners to


rush into on-site renewable energy generation, or invest quickly in on-site EV chargers, with the aim of mitigating price rises and boosting energy independence swiftly, this may not be the wisest approach. The building or site’s power management


system must be calibrated to integrate new loads and energy sources effectively, while interaction


ENERGY MANAGEMENT - Summer 2022 15


at the grid edge, largely managed by the utility companies with input from regulators, is evolving fast and simultaneously, too.


TAKE ADVICE Swift investment in renewable generation is happening for a lot of reasons, not least climate change, and renewables undoubtedly are a good addition to Europe’s energy mix. But integrating assets such as solar panels, energy storage systems and EV chargers can be more complex than simply bolting them on to the existing power set-up in buildings, and the digital aspect can expose businesses to unfamiliar security risks. Taking advice will help businesses to make


wise decisions that are safe and helpful in every respect – from the physical safety that is always important in managing electricity, to the cybersecurity that is a less well-known, but equally essential, consideration. Electrification is happening quickly, and


businesses can certainly help step up the pace. Keeping track of regulatory developments, and working out what assistance they need, will help them to both respond to present circumstances and prepare for a climate-neutral future.


Eaton www.eaton.com/gb/en-gb.html


Siobahn Meikle

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