The power grid is under pressure, and entrepreneurs are noticing it. Every day, they experience the impact of grid congestion: projects are delayed, expansions are postponed and sustainability plans struggle to get off the ground. Yet this situation also offers opportunities. By investing smartly in existing solutions, companies can future-proof their energy infrastructure and get ahead today. Fudura, specialist in sustainable total solutions, shares five smart solutions that help companies to be energy secure today.
Creating space by increasing efficiency
Many companies do not make optimal use of their existing connection due to undetected disturbances in power quality. Indeed, poor Power Quality often involves a relatively high amount of reactive power consumption. This inefficient power consumption results from the simultaneous use of many different electrical devices, such as LED lighting, electric motors, inverters (of solar panels), climate control systems and charging stations. With Power Quality solutions and smart measurement equipment, you gain insight into these disruptions and can make targeted improvements. This ensures clean and efficient power consumption - locally or at system level. This not only provides direct connection space, but also ensures more stable processes and lower energy costs. It makes your energy infrastructure future-proof.
Smoothing peaks with a battery
In most business environments, it is the power peaks that cause pressure on the grid. While average consumption remains within limits, the connection exceeds its limit precisely at those peak moments. With a battery, you can smooth out these peaks: excess energy is temporarily stored and used when it is really needed. This form of 'energy management' does not make your energy infrastructure heavier, but smarter. It allows you to make better use of your connection capacity, avoid penalties for peak consumption and create room for growth.
Moreover, high-quality battery solutions - reliable, efficient and tailored to business use - are becoming increasingly available to the business world. Whereas batteries were previously mainly reserved for the larger industrial players, affordable and quickly deliverable systems are now also available for smaller companies. This makes peak management and energy storage accessible and profitable for an increasing group of companies.
Generating and using your own power
Solar panels are now an integral part of the business energy landscape. Yet many companies still make limited use of the potential of their own generation. Often, a large part of the solar power is fed directly back into the grid, whereas consuming that power themselves - at the right time - yields much more. Now that feed-in costs are increasingly being charged, it is even more attractive to make smart use of self-generated energy.
By temporarily storing generated power in a battery and intelligently controlling it with an energy management system, you can better match your consumption to your production. This way, you increase the share of sustainable energy in your operations, reduce your grid dependence and make maximum use of the energy you have generated yourself.
No roof space? Then consider solar carports. These cleverly combine generation, shelter and possibly charging infrastructure.
Smart control based on data
Many organisations already have energy data, but do not use it sufficiently. While it is precisely in this data that enormous opportunities lie. Those who analyse their consumption profile properly discover, for instance, that peak consumption often occurs only a few moments a day, or that the average use is only 20% of what is technically possible within the current connection. By linking those insights to smart software and predictive models, you can strategically plan your energy consumption. Not only do you prevent overloading, you also create room for growth without additional energy infrastructure.
Think in ecosystems
Another smart solution lies outside the walls of your own premises. Increasingly, local collaborations arise, in which companies in a business park or in a region share their energy, generate it jointly or invest in storage capacity. This can create a local microgrid: a flexible and self-managing energy system. Such ecosystems make it possible to better align supply and demand, distribute peaks and spread investments. This increases the robustness of the energy supply and actively contributes to solving grid congestion. Realising this kind of cooperation does require several parties, both locally and regionally.
Energy infrastructure - electrifying more
Especially in times of grid congestion, many entrepreneurs think that further electrification - such as charging infrastructure, heat pumps or electric production processes - is no longer possible. But the opposite is true. Applying the right combination of power quality, balancing, own generation, data control and cooperation does create room for electrification. Even better: those who invest in a more robust, flexible energy infrastructure now will soon be at the forefront when the grid is (partly) expanded. Then you no longer have to adapt your business operations to the grid - but can realise your ambitions faster. With a slightly larger connection, you can then make giant leaps.
Read also: Solar panels on vehicles can be a valuable source of renewable energy
