If industrial companies pay more for their electricity at the end of the year, although the energy consumption is identical to the consumption of other companies, the reason could be as follows: They are causing power peaks. In other words, companies have power peaks once or several times a year that put an extremely high load on the power grid.
The establishment of operational load management helps you to identify fluctuations and causes and thus permanently reduce energy costs. In the following, we will explain why controlling is so important and how other companies are already benefiting from operational load management.
Avoiding power peaks: That’s why it’s important
Electricity costs for households and small commercial customers are made up of the basic price and the working price. For industrial customers, the basic price at RLM delivery points is replaced by the performance price. Together with peak loads that occur once or several times a year, this can quickly drive up the proportion of electricity costs.
The peak power is the maximum power in KW (kilowatts) that a customer has drawn from the power grid within the last twelve months.
definition
Power peaks should therefore be avoided as far as possible, because they are a major cost factor in the electricity bill.
Sample calculation: How power peaks affect electricity costs
Here is an example of how performance peaks can have a concrete effect:
A supermarket X has a performance value of approx. 200 kW per year. This can quickly become a cost driver if many new consumers are connected or if there is an unintentional, sudden increase in consumption. Depending on the network area, this can be around 300 euros per kW:
| distribution system operator | Performance price (>2,500) |
|---|---|
| Bauer Netz GmbH & Co. KG | 314.06 EUR/kW/a |
| Stadtwerke Barmstedt | 286.65 EUR/kW/a |
| Stadtwerke Stein GmbH & Co KG | EUR 266.65/kW/a |
| Municipal works Steinhagen GmbH | 262.71 EUR/kW/a |
| Netzgesellschaft Bitterfeld-Wolfen mbH | 255.51 EUR/kW/a |
Assuming an assumed power peak of 3-4 kW consumed, a company will quickly end up with additional costs of around 1,000 euros. Without load management, this can easily add up to several 10,000 euros in a large company. That quickly becomes a large part of the total annual costs. More than was planned for the year in terms of costs. Good load management can avoid peak loads and thus unnecessarily high costs for companies.
Avoid peak loads: This is how the peak load can be limited
There are two ways to limit the peak load. Load peaks can be avoided by smoothing them out, known as peak shaving, or by shifting the load.
The first variant ensures that power consumption is reduced quickly and in the short term. This can be done by throttling or by using self-generated electricity from in-house generation systems or from an energy storage device. In this way, the peak load is avoided by abruptly reducing the power consumption or procuring it outside the grid.
A load shift also has a short-term effect. If, for example, production is throttled, the failure is made up for when electricity prices are low or the network utilization is low. With a load shift, the power consumption is then increased again and thus only shifted instead of reduced.
Learn more? In our article “Energy Optimization: Cost Savings by Limiting Electrical Peak Loads” we explain the limitation of power peaks in detail.
Operational load management: This is why controlling is so important
Topics such as performance and peak load are complex, so it is worth calling in an expert for support in order to actively control power consumption with operational load management.
As experts, we monitor and analyze your electricity consumption via our meter operation and energy information system. Appropriate measures can then be derived. Together with our customers, we ensure holistic energy controlling and thus also consistent power consumption without cost surprises.
What we offer our customers:
- Several variants of energy controlling depending on your needs
- Full control over your energy data and costs
- Access to all current energy data
- The possibility of conducting independent detailed analysis
- Projections during the year for planning security
- Areva as an advisory partner at your side
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About Areva
The Areva Energie-Handels-Gesellschaft is the energy service provider for companies with many locations. As a reliable partner in all energy issues, we offer a wide range of services and added value that are always tailored to the needs of our customers.
