by chris | Jul 11, 2017 | Energy
The calls for a 100% renewable energy market in NZ are often met with large amounts of criticism, “We are 85% renewable already”, “Thermal back up is required for periods of drought and low wind”, “Going 100% renewable will only increase prices as more generation will be required” etc etc etc.
Quite frankly, this is an outdated way to think of the market based on large scale generation models and long distance transmission.
New Zealand in transition
Unlike most other countries, NZ is well positioned to further reduce reliance on thermal generation, given our geography, population spread and isolated energy system i.e. we are not importing or exporting electricity to other countries like many do in Europe or North America.
A good first step could be to remove thermal baseload generation from the market, in recent time this has been achieved with Otathuhu closing in 2015, much of the “slack” was taken up by new and efficient running of Geothermal stations.
But how do we take this further, how do we remove the requirement for Huntly et al while still retaining large users such as NZ Steel and Rio Tinto?
Battery Storage and the New Zealand network
From my perspective the largest potential lies in battery storage whether it be fixed assets or leveraging the electric transport fleet in years to come.
If generators / network companies considered either installing large scale industrial batteries at remotely located or congested sub-stations or operating networks of small scale batteries installed across thousands of residential homes, massive amounts of money would be saved by not having to build new hydro dams or geothermal plants.
Ever increasing costs of maintaining such a large transmission and distribution system for such a small population is surely a compelling event for infrastructure owners to invest in new technologies and new business models to sustain revenue into the future. If we apply Moore’s law to batteries, they will half in price and double in capacity in the next 18 months which should see them become extremely viable.
Considering the above, the case for thermal becomes much less compelling.
Examples from abroad
In recent times, Germany has made huge steps to curtail the reliance on thermal generation with numerous renewable generation initiatives. The following article was written by Yaniv Vardi, CEO of Panoramic Power and highlights a number of valuable points that New Zealand might take on board.
In a world facing pressing challenges from climate change and rising carbon emissions, entire countries are becoming laboratories to test potential solutions. Nowhere is this truer than in Germany, where their aggressive plans to address climate change, encoded in the ambitious Energiewende, call to phase out nuclear and carbon-based energy sources and invest in renewable energy sources – such as solar and wind.
The Energiewende plan envisions a non-nuclear Germany that cuts its carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. As lofty a goal as this may be, the plan is on pace to meet and even exceed benchmarks. Even though not everyone is on board, and some claim the Energiewende is overzealous and could strangle business in favor of pushing an unrealistic energy policy, progress well underway.
What is the Energiewende, and what has it done so far?
The Energiewende is a sweeping plan for “the full-scale transformation of [German] society and the economy” along the lines of renewable energy. Passed in 2010 in its most recent form – but with social and political roots that stretch back 20 years prior – the Energiewende schedules a complete phase-out of nuclear-generated energy by 2022, an 80% cut in carbon emissions by 2050 and supports additional investment in renewable technologies such as wind and solar.
The Energiewende has three main components: proliferation of renewable energies, reduction or compete phase out of nuclear- and carbon-based energy sources and increased energy efficiency. Germany is well on its way to completing these goals successfully and in a timely fashion. Currently, the first two components are well underway, while early progress has been made toward heightened efficiency. By 2014, 27% of German electricity was generated by renewable sources. Since 2011, Germany has halved its consumption of nuclear energy and shut down nine of its 17 nuclear reactors.
On its surface, the Energiewende appears to be working. It doesn’t mean, however, that the policy isn’t free of critics. Some have vocalized sharp critique, casting doubt on the viability of the energy plan. But do these arguments hold water?
The continuing energy debate
Not everyone is sold on the promises of the Energiewende. Some, like economist Heiner Flassbeck, argue that an energy system primarily supported by wind and solar, without any aid from nuclear sources or fossil fuels, is ultimately not tenable.
Flassbeck’s critique is related to what critics call “the intermittency problem,” that wind and solar don’t always generate electricity at reliable levels. If the renewable sources fail to produce enough energy to meet the nation’s demand, and Germany successfully phases out all nuclear- and carbon-based energy sources, there would be no fallback to generate the additional energy needed. Critics say removing that backup would be a crucial mistake.
However, proponents argue that intermittency can be solved with greater grid connectivity – geographical diversity, they suggest, should often balance out any shortages – and the development of better storage technologies. At present, wind energy must be used as it is generated; if cost-effective storage methods emerge, the intermittency of wind power becomes less of a concern.
In addition, alternative sources have proven themselves to be sufficient. Just last year, German solar power providers generated so much electricity that they actually had to pay to offload it. And while naysayers may declare this the product of a ham-fisted public policy that actually dims the long-term viability of commercial energy production, the fact that there’s enough clean energy production to bring this hypothetical conflict to life, is itself encouraging.
Energiewende critics also raise concern about inflated electricity costs. In Germany, utilities are required by law to pay energy producers that sell back to the grid. Those payments are set at fixed, above-market prices, which utilities pass on to consumers in the form of a surcharge on their electric bill. As a result, German consumers experience higher than average energy costs. In 2016, the surcharge amounted to 22.1%.
In the U.S., consumers pay less per kilowatt hour, a fact favored by critics of Germany’s energy policy. Despite the heightened electricity rates, German consumers are still widely in favor of the Energiewende. More than 80% of respondents of public opinion polls said they were in favor of a low-carbon and nuclear-free economy. Higher energy costs, it seems, do not deter the Germans in their bid for a cleaner energy system.
Toward a viable, national energy management model
Despite critics’ appeals to hold tight – at least for the time being – to the nuclear- and carbon-based status quo, Germany’s energy efficiency policy is making a compelling case study for a more sustainable model.
The methods may be bold, but they seem to be working. Germany reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 27% and produced 27.4% of its electricity from renewable sources. Renewable energy made up 13.5% of the market as well – all while shuttering nuclear facilities and growing the overall economy by 1.9% (the fastest rate in the G7).
While Germany is phasing out non-renewable energy sources like coal at a slower pace than nuclear energy, the Energiewende is setting the stage for a new system founded on renewable energy technologies. As storage methods improve and proliferate, and distribution networks become more connected, the problem of intermittency should become less and less burdensome – in other words, high-producing regions will be able to support low-producing regions.
While the Energiewende is aggressive bordering on single-minded, it has already demonstrated its viability as an energy system capable of supporting an advanced, forward-thinking economy. Even as the German policy has implemented drastic changes in a relatively short amount of time, the German economy has continued to grow unabated. If the world is serious about combating climate change and meeting the targets of the Paris climate accord, Germany’s Energiewende is a model to emulate, not dismantle.
Yaniv Vardi is the CEO of Panoramic Power, a leader in device level energy monitoring and performance optimization
by Jon Rabinowitz | Jun 9, 2017 | Energy
The focus of the recent Energy Management Association of New Zealand (EMANZ) conference held in Wellington centered on disruptive technologies and how this would impact the traditional models of the energy supply chain. While presentations focused mainly on generators, distributors and retailers, customers also need to consider how emerging technology can drive strategic decision making when it comes to the consumption of energy.
The installation of smart metering over the last few years throughout New Zealand has assisted mainly companies that generate, distribute and retail energy with very little benefit being delivered to customers. In the retail space we are starting to see the application of time based pricing for SME customers but retail pricing products in this space remain in their infancy as the attitude of traditional suppliers appears to be a wait and see approach.
One thing is for certain, data will play a massive role in the future structure of energy supply and customers who control their data will be steps ahead of those that don’t. We truly believe that customers who take a proactive strategic approach to measuring consumption beyond the data available on their invoices (whether it be energy, ICT or waste) will have a competitive advantage in their market place compared with businesses who don’t.
The below article was written by Jon Rabinowitz, Head of Marketing – Panoramic Power, while US-centric there are strong commonalities that apply to the market in NZ. If your business would like to discuss how energy can become a strategic lever for competitive advantage, Total Utilities would welcome the opportunity to meet with you. Contact us here.
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by RichardGardiner | May 25, 2017 | Energy, ICT, Waste
Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.
Drawing is the honesty of the art.
Salvador Dali
Today Total Utilities announces its new branding. Over the last 18 years we have worked hard to assist companies in controlling consumption and cost. It’s an exciting day for us and we are proud to share this with you.
From today you’ll see a change in the way we look, including our new ribbon logo. The spherical shape represents the whole as we take a 360 degree approach to understanding our clients and their utility requirements, whether it be Energy, Waste and ICT or Insights, Strategy and Solutions.
What doesn’t change is our desire to create a sustainable future for New Zealand businesses and how they manage their utilities by continuing to deliver ongoing value for our clients.
We continue to work hard to provide new services to assist our clients such as Energy Monitoring and Targeting through wireless non-intrusive energy senors, Cloud Computing Analytics for consumption of computer services and qualitative and quantitative reporting aligned to overall financial strategy.
Total Utiltities About Us Presentation
We remain committed to delivering a personalised service and assisting our clients navigate a rapidly evolving commercial market place by underpinning strategic thinking.
I would like to thank our existing clients for your continued loyalty and confidence in our company. To prospective clients, I hope that you will partner with us to discover real world solutions for sustainable utility consumption and cost optimisation.
by chris | May 12, 2017 | Energy
by DavidSpratt | May 5, 2017 | Energy, ICT
In the first two parts of this series I looked at what the internet of things (IoT) actually is and then at the Energy Management possibilities for businesses competing on the world stage.
In this, part three, of the series we get down to the nitty gritty of Manufacturing Production Management and how measuring energy flows and consumption can inform critical decisions.
I could make this complicated but if we really get down to the basics there are three main categories that require constant attention in a production environment: People, Processes and Technology.
People – Creating Feedback Loops
In the context of production management one of the most important variables is the performance of individual staff members. How someone uses equipment, works within a team, learns to adapt to new systems can make the difference between a highly profitable unit and one that is not.
What drives people’s decisions and actions will often come down to feedback loops. By using the Internet of Things to deliver energy monitoring information we can give people useful data about what is happening on their production line.
For example, if we can demonstrate that the team’s correct use of energy efficiency tools delivers a better product this not only reinforces their behaviour it also opens up the opportunity for them to take this information and find even better ways to improve efficiency.
How we use technology can be directly connected to the energy a unit or group of units consumes. If a lathe is running at full tilt throughout an eight hour shift does that necessarily mean that unit is being properly used? Or is the operator just running it on full because it that is what they were told to do when they first started years ago?
People make decisions at work every day. How you create feedback loops will inform those decisions more effectively and in doing so improved performance, job satisfaction and company results.
Processes
Every experienced Production Manager can tell you that each team on a production line is quite different and that their results vary considerably. The bigger question is “what causes this?”. By monitoring the flow of individual products and components through a production line we can identify bottlenecks, part shortages and defects quickly and effectively. With the Internet of Things we can break down a process into its smallest components, create various quality checkpoints along the way and eventually ensure near 100% accuracy, complete adherence to standards and instant identification of faults and tolerance variances.
Many would suggest that this is already the case in many well-run sites. But what happens off site with the parts we order and the products we ship?
The key to the internet of things is that our production process begins at the point where a component is ordered , right through the creation of unique SCU’s or products and all the way to the end user’s home, office or factory. This is because we can now potentially track billions of components throughout the supply chain at a cost much lower than we ever thought possible.
Technology
Remember the Internet of Things is not just adding an RFID tag to a unit and tracking it. It is about potentially billions of components that communicate. This can be back to a central point, with multiple other components, with the warehouse, the truck and of course with the end user.
By integrating Internet of Things components to the technologies we use in making things we can establish how one production line consumes energy at a fairly constant rate while another’s consumption appears to ebb and flow throughout the day.
In this instance we might have identified human errors, a malfunctioning device or quality issues with the parts or components being used on this line.
For the first time in our history we can easily measure our technology’s performance down to the tiniest detail. We are no longer limited by the number, location or stage of development of any component.
The Internet of Things opens a world of opportunities for us to deliver better quality at a lower cost and more reliably than ever before.
by DavidSpratt | Feb 27, 2017 | Energy, ICT
Over Christmas 2015 I spent a lot of my beach time getting sun burnt and considering the threat of global warming to my kids and to their kids.
I eventually decided that, to save the planet, I could start by measuring the energy consumption of every electrical device in the world. This would help people understand how to use these devices more efficiently, they would use less energy and “voila” world saved!
The only problem is – how the heck do I talk to every electrical device in the world? More importantly – how do I get them to talk back to me?
Welcome to the emerging world of the Internet of Things
The Internet of Things? What the heck is that?
All many of us know about this topic is via TV or the newspaper with an over hyped American guru telling us how our new fridges will know whether we are about to run out of milk and will place an order for delivery that day.
Now, to be honest, I don’t want Countdown to know that every week I drink four dozen beers, scoff sixteen packets of crisps and kill my inner sadness with endless king size bars of dairy milk chocolate.
So why am I writing an article trying to explain and justify something that sounds a little bit too much like big brother is watching? Because it matters. Because the Internet of Things is about how our businesses can sustainably compete in the future.
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