Saving energy is becoming increasingly important for companies — not only for ecological, but also for economic reasons. In this blog article, we will show you why it is worthwhile to reduce energy consumption, what measures you can take and how an energy management system can help.
Electrification and individual circumstances as a cause
Electrification in Brandenburg is in full swing: heat pumps and wallboxes are being installed and charging infrastructure for e-cars is being created. According to the German Federal Grid Agency, industry is also facing an ever-increading demand for electricity as a result of ongoing electrification. The grid in Oranienburg is struggling with this development and has stopped connecting further energy-intensive consumers (Handelsblatt, 2024). Even though there are sometimes individual circumstances, the fundamental problem is not unique to Oranienburg. What can we do to deal with this side effect of the energy transition?
Consumers pay for grid expansion
Expanding grid capacities is one solution, but it involves immense costs. The extent of grid expansion is defined in terms of possible simultaneity by the maximum assumed load in the grid, which may only occur in specific, short-term time windows. The costs incurred are in turn passed on to users in the form of ever higher grid charges.
Smart grid as a solution
We imagine the smart grid of the future, for which there is currently no regulation in Germany, differently. We support the idea of dynamic network charges. With the right incentives, grid utilization by participants (producers, consumers, prosumers) can be better coordinated in real time and potential peaks in the grid can be smoothed out efficiently. Dynamic peak load time windows can also achieve this effect. They could be notified in advance to participants, who adjust their power consumption accordingly and together relieve the grid. Especially in refrigeration and heating technology, this is possible due to a intelligent, predictive control. At the same time, additional storage and redundancies can be used to bridge these time windows.
Implement dynamic grid charges and dynamic peak load time windows
What are the concrete steps to take as a company to adapt to this?
- Combination of all relevant data: Historical and real-time data about internal consumption & processes as well as external data such as signals from the smart grid are collected in a database within 15 minutes.
- Use energy management with AI: Based on the data, AI can make forecasts of consumption and electricity production and create intelligent, individual timetables for power consumption. At the same time, it automatically controls the systems according to timetables and constantly learns from the new data.
Grid congestion such as in Oranienburg could be avoided with a data-based smart grid. Consumers could also reduce their energy costs and increase energy efficiency. In this way, dynamic grid charges and peak load time windows could be implemented, which would also incentivize consumers to consume electricity in a grid-friendly, cost-efficient manner.
Even though that is not yet a reality: Companies can already benefit from energy management with AI today! Feel free to get in touch with us to find out more.