by DavidSpratt | Jul 31, 2019 | Energy
I lit my first fire at home for the year on the unusual date of May 31, just one day before the official beginning of winter.
I live in the sunny north side of Auckland, but I would have expected to see my dog sleeping in front of the fire by around late April.
There are some of us who believe that to the detriment of future generations the planet is suffering from global warming and others who feel that the scientific consensus is still a long way from being agreed. Either way, I do believe there is a general accord that we can’t keep consuming the planet’s resources at the rate we are, without very dire consequences.
Whether it is to save the planet or to drive efficiency, businesses are now using technology to reduce their carbon footprint. Some of these are unexciting and some are just plain cool. Either way, I describe below a few to pay attention to.
Tech to reduce the footprint
Methane co-generation
Very few people realize that Auckland’s largest landfill is also an energy park. The rubbish that goes into Waste Management’s Redvale Landfill captures more than 95 percent of the methane gas that is generated from the waste, which is then used to generate up to 14MW of electricity. Last year this meant it generated enough electricity to power 12,000 homes, making it the largest producer of renewable electricity in the Auckland region.
Heat recovery
Energy-intensive businesses, supported in some cases by subsidies from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA), are now placing increased emphasis on the reuse and reinjection of heated water and steam in their industrial processes. We at Total Utilities have, as a result, seen excellent improvements in energy efficiency at factories and larger campuses.
Heat recovery is also used for go-generation where energy is converted to electricity and put back on the national grid.
Sensors, monitoring and the Internet of Things (IOT)
There is a difference between managing and monitoring business activities. A simple analogy is parents in the park: one couple hovers over their beloved children, constantly checking and rechecking their safety while exhausting everyone in the process; meanwhile, over at the park bench, another couple enjoys the sun, chats and drinks coffee while watching their young ones interact safely with the world and only interfering when they observe a real problem.
In the past, businesses used product-specific sensors to monitor equipment and processes. These sensors tended to be expensive, proprietary and clunky in their outputs (think: complex graphs on green screens).
Today an edgy new cousin has turned up, reducing the cost of monitoring, and providing rich insights via web-based applications that run on almost every device. This is called the Internet of Things (IOT). These simple, useful sensors provide streams of meaningful data about electricity consumption, temperature, process efficiency, humidity and more.
Artificial intelligence
While the Internet of Things sounds a bit like Nirvana, it does have one significant flaw: complexity. In theory, we could provide an IoT connector to every grain of sand on Earth without consuming all the available capacity.
Making sense of all the data it reports is the big problem. This is where Artificial Intelligence (AI) comes in. Capable of analyzing billions of bits of data from multiple data sources, AI is being used by many businesses to sift huge data pools and deliver the insights and activities that deliver competitive advantage and reduce wastage.
by chris | Jun 12, 2018 | Energy
It is well known that in New Zealand, energy generation is largely renewable. Around 65% of generation is hydro-based mainly in the South Island and around 15% is geothermal based through the central to the eastern side of the North Island. In the following series of articles, we will look at the pros and cons of commercial solar installations in the New Zealand market.
During the last National-led Government, there was little emphasis placed on increasing the uptake of large-scale Solar (with the current Labour-led Government this may change) as it was seen merely as converting from one form of mostly renewable generation to another with little overall benefit to New Zealand’s energy generation emissions. This is because the vast bulk of our thermal based load is only utilised during times of long-term dry weather (mostly during Winter periods) or intermittently when other generators are out for short-term planned or unplanned maintenance.
While Solar energy generation has been around for well over 30 years, it has only recently that economies of scale in efficiency and cost have meant that generating energy for photovoltaic panels is a realistic option for some businesses to reduce their reliance on the main transmission and local distribution grids.
A recent study published by Statistics NZ and the Ministry for the Environment concluded that sunshine hours are increasing in most areas across the country. However, there are areas throughout the country that have a more natural fit for installing Solar due to a combination of sunshine hours and the costs of energy and transmission and distribution energy pricing.
The recently announced ban on offshore oil drilling and gas exploration will have a major impact on the energy requirements of the country. From the generation perspective, Genesis’ Huntly power station will be most affected. While the original Rankine units are expected to be operated through to around December 2022, the newer 400MW combined cycle generator may have an uncertain future. From an end user perspective, food manufacturing will be most greatly impacted by a lack of gas supply or higher costs due to imports which is most likely lead to manufacturing moving offshore or higher prices for consumers. However, I digress, although the above will most likely have a positive impact on the feasibility of distributed generation.
Regulatory change and reform have always had a large impact on New Zealand’s primary sectors, and since deregulation of the energy system in 1999, successive governments have used the market for political capital by consistently tinkering and influencing the market. With the upcoming wide-ranging government inquiry into power pricing in New Zealand, the newly created Climate Change Commission and the Transmission Pricing Methodology Proposal one thing is for certain is the constant potential for change.
by chris | Dec 12, 2017 | Energy
The following was published in the NZ Herald 25th of November 2017 and includes energy tips from Total Utilities’ own Pushkar Kulkarni who reveals how leaking air wastes money.
Four energy experts offer top tips to save money
Running an air-conditioning unit at full tilt to cool down one part of a building, while a boiler blazes away to heat another part of that same building, sounds like madness – but it’s surprisingly common in New Zealand’s commercial buildings.
It’s just one of the ways businesses are squandering energy, and therefore money, in the course of their day-to-day operations.
The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) say many businesses could shave up to 20 per cent off energy costs – with the potential energy efficiency savings adding up to $900 million a year across all New Zealand businesses by 2030, if all economic options are adopted.
The good news is many of the fixes are inexpensive, immediately effective and boast short timeframes for return on investment. Some even cost nothing. According to some of the market’s energy efficiency experts, here are some of the most common ways businesses are wasting energy.
Poor energy monitoring
Simon Ross, mechanical engineer, Beca: “People leave their buildings running when there’s no one in them. The warm-up cycles also often start way too early in the mornings – and no one is even aware of it.”
Ross says monitoring energy use identifies where it is being wasted and quickly clarifies a plan of attack. It’s a classic case of not being able to manage what hasn’t been measured.
“Once you’ve measured it, it then makes sense to compare your energy usage to others in your industry – to benchmark it.”
Ross points to Beca’s benchmarking of electricity use of Christchurch schools: “When a school can see where it sits relative to another school then they can see the value in reducing their energy usage. Until you give them data to show where they sit, they’re basically only able to compare with how they’ve performed historically – which might be good, or terrible.”
EECA Business has its Energy Management Journey tool set up for precisely this purpose. It’s a free online tool where users input energy usage data, then find out how they’re doing compared to similar businesses. Find out more at https://www.eecabusiness.govt.nz/tools/energy-management-journey
Leaking Air
Pushkar Kulkarni, business manager sustainability solutions, Total Utilities:
“Many companies invest in a new air compressor but may not make an effort to find the leaks in the system first. If all of those leaks are found and fixed, they may conclude there is no need to invest in a new compressor.”
Kulkarni sees this scenario on a regular basis. He estimates eight out of every 10 systems could be leaking air.
“These systems are very common in New Zealand – particularly in the industries of production, packaging, food processing, waste, yarn and pharmaceutical production. Over time they may deteriorate or be modified and start leaking air. They can be expensive to run, so the savings from identifying and fixing leaks can be considerable. It’s usually a fairly inexpensive fix with a fast return on investment.”
Uninsulated pipes
Glenn Johnston, Smart Power: “If it’s an exposed pipe in a warm boiler room it’s not as bad but, if that pipe runs outside or through the roof space where it’s a lot colder, the heat loss can be substantial.”
Johnston is used to seeing money go down the drain in the form of energy escaping from uninsulated pipes, used for both heating and cooling.
“Industries where it’s important to insulate pipes include the likes of food processors, hospitals, freezing works, packaging plants – anywhere they have refrigeration or hot water needs.”
Often these pipes are easier to get to than in commercial buildings, making repairs easier and cheaper. Johnston cites the example of a plant his company worked on. The company beefed up insulation of steam and hot water equipment. A $20,000 investment turned into an annual saving of some 250,000kWh, or $11,000, giving a payback period of just 1.9 years.
“When you insulate pipes properly you get an immediate impact,” says Johnston.
Heating and cooling systems fighting each other
Alastair Hines, divisional manager, Enercon: “Heating and cooling systems are often working at the same time. Nobody worries about it too much, because it’s the norm.”
Hines points to one business which Enercon found many of the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) and lighting systems were operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, even when not required. The HVAC systems also did not have an air temperature dead-band to prevent frequent switching from heating to cooling and vice versa.
That resulted in increased demands on the system and adjacent zones simultaneously heating and cooling.
Hines says this happens in many commercial buildings, typically because the building is poorly controlled. He estimates 10-20 per cent of the energy used for heating and cooling in a building is wasted.
“When you consider heating and cooling account for up to 50 per cent of the total cost of running it, that 10-20 per cent can be a big saving. Adding sub-meters, sensors, and re-programming the building management system all make a big difference.”
A treasure trove of information about how businesses can save energy is available on www.eecabusiness.govt.nz, or find an energy management expert in the Programme Partner directory.
by chris | Dec 5, 2017 | Energy
Cost reduction in the energy market through procurement has been relatively easy in the last few years. Flat national demand, solid hydro storage, increased retailer competition and participation in the ASX market has led to competitive commercial contracts that have allowed many customers to save money without changing what they are doing.
While an immediate impact, it is not sustainable. Fixed price contracts are typically only 2-3 years in length and only relate to +/- 65% of a total bill, changes in transmission and distribution pricing is passed through at cost by the retailers and these costs are non-contestable.
In recent weeks, hydro storage has dropped for the second time this year to low levels which has driven large increases in Spot and ASX future pricing. Spot pricing through June moved well above the long term average, peak daytime periods were regularly priced at between 15-20c/kWh or more. While the South Island hydro storage lakes recovered in August from the dry winter, there has been little rain during spring which has meant that water inflows have been below 70% of average levels. It is not uncommon for Spot to bounce around at this time of year due to scheduled maintenance of thermal generators and other transmission related work, however the lack of South Island rainfall and the longer term NIWA forecasts are concerning. Over the last couple of weeks it has been like déjà vu as Spot pricing escalated to day time peaks of above 20c/kWh. 2017 is shaping up to be one of the more volatile years in recent history. Both ASX futures and Spot prices are lead indicators to over the counter retail pricing, pricing can change quickly and for customers who maybe engage with the market once every 2-3 years as contracts end, if the timing is wrong it can lead to significant price increases.
With New Zealand’s energy market so heavily reliant on environmental factors for supply of fuel, it is not enough to rely solely on pricing being the same or better every time a customer needs to sign a new commercial supply contract. Nationally we have around 6 weeks of hydro storage, tiny in comparison to Iceland who have around 6 months backup. Needless to say, it does not take much for the market here to spike, a period of unseasonably dry weather combined with a cold snap, some thermal generation outages and transmission constraint issues all lead the market in one direction.
Customers are asking us what else can be done to mitigate pricing risk in the future aside from securing competitive energy supply contracts. Utilities are a two way street, a symbiotic relationship between consumption and cost. If we take a strategic view, then time and effort needs to be directed at both sides of the coin.
We recently had a customer say, “It’s great when I can save 1-2 cents per kWh with a new contract, but for every kWh I don’t use, I save 10 cents. That’s where the real gold is hidden.”
Total Utilities has a range of energy management services that can assist customers identify sustainable energy savings. We can guide you through your energy efficiency journey from how and where to get started, device level energy monitoring and targeting to identify energy wastage, energy audits, solar viability analysis and system design, BMS optimisation and NABERNZ ratings though to implementation and post commissioning reviews.
Planning for efficiency now, can reduce cost risks in the future when commercial pricing increases. We’d welcome the opportunity to discuss with you what might be possible to ensure a commercially sustainable future.
