In the UK, the majority of
electricity comes from large, centralised power plants. Although this approach
enables economies of scale in the energy sector, it means that customers,
particularly those within inner cities depend on long-distance transmission to
receive power. Here Nick Boughton, sales manager at industrial systems integrator,
Boulting Technology discusses how businesses need to adapt to keep up with
increased energy demands.
In
a bid to reduce energy costs and improve reliability, customers are turning to
local energy generation — power that is generated in underutilised spaces such
as rooftops, landfills and empty car parks.
Local
energy generation reduces costs and improves the overall efficiency of the
power system. It minimises line losses and extends the lifespan of existing
transmission infrastructure by minimising wear from overuse. It also creates a
stronger, more resilient network of power in the face of extreme weather, human
error and outsider attacks.
The
benefits of local energy generation are clear for home owners, but commercial
and industrial properties are also starting to explore the alternatives to the
national grid.
The
microgrid is a localised group of electricity sources and loads that normally
operate as part of the national grid, but can disconnect and function
autonomously if necessary.
These
types of grids are maturing quickly within the commercial and industrial
sectors in North America and Asia Pacific, but lack of standards limit them on
a global scale. Having these standards in place would mean that manufacturers
could access a more secure supply, avoiding regular power interruptions that
can cause high revenue losses and long periods of downtime.
Renewables
Renewable
sources currently produce more than 20 per cent of the UK's electricity and
targets set by the European Union mean that this is likely to rise to 30 per
cent by 2020.
Countries
in Europe are building increasing amounts of renewable capacity in order to
reduce their carbon emissions and boost supply security. Last year, Denmark’s
wind farms supplied 140 per cent of the country's demand and Germany received
all of its power from renewable energy sources for an entire day. While these
were planned events, in May 2016, the UK hit the headlines as it had no
coal-fired power stations meeting electricity demand for a short space of time
as a result of the partial failure of a power import cable. It is events like
this that highlight the eventual need for a more long-term market supply.
In
2017, the Scottish government bid to cut
total climate emissions by 66 per cent within 15 years. This is one of the
world's most ambitious climate strategies and is expected to cost up to £3
billion per year to implement. To cut emissions, the Scottish government has
released a renewable energy programme, which includes targets of 40 per cent of
all new cars sold in Scotland to be ultra-low emission and 80 per cent of
Scotland's homes to be heated using low-carbon technologies.
Currently,
solar energy is limited to daylight hours and wind power cannot be harvested
all year round. The only way to guarantee a 24-hour renewable supply is to have
a method of storage.
Leveraging
car and mobile phone developments, modern battery storage systems will soon be
used to store renewable energy. In just a few years' time, battery storage will
be commonplace not just at grid level, but on industrial sites, office blocks
and in the home too.
