The UK-wide push for low carbon energy production is in full force and has been for some time, but with it come new challenges. With gas stock levels low and low wind speeds across northern Europe, the UK finds itself with little in the way of renewable energy options to provide critical power to the UK grid. We’re even seeing coal power stations being fired back up to help with demand, which is not helping the UK’s green push.
This is now causing rapidly increasing energy pricing, with households and businesses alike realising there is going to be a lot of pain just around the corner.
Even more pressure is being put on businesses that are trying to curtail their energy use, reduce costs and be more sustainable, but in some instances, the cost increase is too large. We spoke to an organisation this week that is having to shut down production due to excessive energy prices, causing uncertainty for their employees as well as potential supply chain challenges which are also starting to emerge. There is another question to be asked on how this may impact the economy as inflation is already pushing us to some of the highest levels in the last 20 years.
Understanding where and how you use your energy is of critical importance, if you can’t understand it, you can’t optimise it. Businesses are facing big decisions and need to prioritise getting a handle on smarter energy management.
Some organisations have already embarked on this journey, finding through better understanding usage, they can plan and avoid high energy usage and costs. They are taking advantage of off-grid technologies such as batteries and intelligent automation of assets that consume large amounts of energy, often reducing energy requirements by 15-20%
Understanding energy data is key to developing a strategic energy management plan, from visibility businesses can act, safeguard productivity and reduce operational cost, whilst also helping to achieve sustainability goals.
With energy prices set to rise sharply and the problem looking as though it may well be an annual occurrence, it’s time every business gave more focus to their 3rd largest cost.
Early adopters of smart energy management technologies now have an advantage over their competitors. They can avoid triad periods or take advantage of demand-side response initiatives.
The Bright Building in Manchester, for instance, can charge their onsite Tesla battery, to go off-grid in the most expensive periods, or sell their excess energy back to the grid.
It’s time for organisations to realise there is a better, more efficient way to operate, one which reduces cost, drives sustainability and helps keep them productive. With intelligent insight as to how energy is used and reduced.
