Products in Action

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Japanese food stays cool in new premises

Tanpopo Japanese Food, a UK-based food wholesaler, has recently equipped its warehouse in Feltham, west London, with condensing units from the Panasonic CO2 Cold Chain range. The units were installed by Versan Ltd of Chertsey, Surrey, a company specialising in the installation of refrigeration technology.

For over 20 years, Tanpopo has been making and supplying sushi to catering companies, supermarkets, hotels, stadia and event organisers across the UK. With the use of renewable technology and reliability high on the agenda for Tanpopo, Panasonic’s Cold Chain Commercial Refrigeration range, which uses environmentally-friendly CO2, was the ideal choice for all their frozen and chilled food storage refrigeration requirements when the business moved to its new premises in Feltham.

A further challenge for this installation was that the cooking and manufacturing process in the factory results in ambient temperatures of up to 43 o C, so any refrigeration units chosen must be able to operate efficiently even in these extreme conditions.

The range available in the UK features units for medium temperature (4kW to 16kW) and low temperature (2kW to 8kW) condensing units. Additionally, the 16kW units can be connected to provide up to 32kW cooling capacity at medium temperature. ONLINE ENQUIRY 101

Water heaters save for Yorkshire schools

Twenty condensing gas-fired water heaters have been installed as part of a major upgrade of plant rooms at eight schools in Rotherham, South Yorkshire.

Boiler, water heater and heat pump company Lochinvar, formed a partnership with HCP Consultancy to upgrade services to improve performance, cut running costs and reduce the environmental impact of the vital heating and hot water systems in ten plant rooms.

One option was simply to replace existing atmospheric water heaters with like-for-like models. However, HCP Consultancy opted for Lochinvar’s high-efficiency, condensing technology because it reduces energy consumption and carbon emissions while also providing improved reliability and longevity.

HCP’s strategic asset management (SAM) team used lifecycle asset data and technical knowledge to create a best value model and decided a strategic partnership with Lochinvar, FM provider Engie and the installation company Staffordshire Plumbing and Heating (SPH) would deliver the best outcome.

The models chosen from Lochinvar’s EcoKnight range have efficiencies ranging from 93 to 95 per cent, which also comfortably meets current regulations. The schools now expect to achieve savings in energy consumption and carbon emissions of around 15 per cent.

Engie, which manages the sites on behalf of HCP Consultancy and the schools, will provide ongoing maintenance. ONLINE ENQUIRY 102

For further information on EDF visitwww.eibi.co.uk/enquiriesand enter ENQUIRY No. 145

Stuart Fenner is head of energy solutions for buiness at EDF

The power of storage in our flexible future

Today’s businesses are already flexible in many ways but the UK’s shift to low-carbon electricity means it’s time for a flexible approach to energy too, says Stuart Fenner I n order to reach our net zero targets we also need our energy to be more low carbon. After all, in the UK energy supply currently still accounts for 24 per cent of our total greenhouse gases.

Of course, part of the solution is to increase production of renewable energy. And we’re doing that. From just 30 per cent today, by 2035, renewables will account for around 55 per cent of our total energy mix in the UK, alongside other low carbon sources such as nuclear. The problem is their intermittent nature - fluctuations in the weather cause volatility in the availability of renewables. This in turn can lead to imbalances between the supply and demand of electricity across the UK via the National Grid. The challenge EDF has worked with partners to optimise 10MW of solar and 6MW battery storage at Clayhill solar farm is how to balance the network at from the assets on the customer’s trust a partner like EDF to put their times of peak demand without site, from the grid’s requests energy expertise to work for you. switching on coal- or gas-fired in terms of stability, frequency When it comes to technology, power stations. That’s where energy regulation and from the price the obvious choice for flexibility flexibility comes in. signals on the wholesale market. is battery storage. Battery energy

As a concept, flexibility is Initially developed based on clever storage is one way to help stabilise something that businesses will algorithms, and now using artificial the grid and to support the understand. The challenge lies in intelligence, PowerShift optimises integration of more renewables on how you start getting your business the energy consumption of the the grid. It helps minimise some to make the change to doing it. assets on site in order to be able to of the challenges we have with In many ways it’s a question of contribute to grid schemes such as renewable energy; giving you the business transformation and will the established flexibility markets, capability to store the energy you have a positive impact on both with a close eye on emerging generate instead of wasting it. the bottom line, as well as on its markets too. sustainability agenda. If you have the time and knowConcerns around energy prices how in your business, you can Broadly speaking, any type and Full visibility of assets manage it all yourselves. Or if you size of business could benefit from There is an easy way to make the don’t have the knowledge in-house deploying energy storage, but the most of your business’ existing or the time to implement it, you can technology will be most appropriate flexibility assets. Flexibility optimisation and energy trading platforms, like EDF’s PowerShift, give you full visibility of all your assets and allow businesses to access remuneration. They enable you to see where your assets are and decide which of these to flex and make available to the grid at a given time. Businesses can decide how much capacity they are willing to trade - and at what price.

PowerShift takes information for businesses that have particular concerns around energy prices or resilience, and those that undertake critical industrial processes.

Additionally, for businesses that already have on-site generation, energy storage will allow them to utilise more of their own generation and take less energy from the grid.

However, before installing energy storage (or any onsite solution, for that matter), it’s crucial that you and your team have a good understanding of exactly what it is you want to achieve. Are you trying to create a new revenue stream or is this part of a wider energy strategy?

There are some great examples of flexibility working in practice. Last year we partnered with Upside Energy and Anesco to optimise a combined 10MW of solar and 6 MW battery assets at Clayhill solar farm, the UK’s first unsubsidised solar farm. We are using Powershift to enhance the efficiency and profitability of the assets, securing contracts with grid operators and generating revenue through direct access to wholesale markets. We’ve been able to offer Anesco a guaranteed ‘floor price’ for this project, which is a first.

A very good example of a strong circular economy approach to flexibility and storage is Nissan, who is combining second-life batteries from cars to create a bigger battery. This then becomes an asset that EDF, with the PowerShift platform, can optimise, charge and discharge depending on the grid request and wholesale markets in order to create additional value for the business and for the grid.

How does the future of energy storage look? We’re going from an initial base of 0.34GW of installed battery storage capacity in 2012 and 2013, to an estimated 40GW by 2022. This market growth is due in part to the falling costs of energy storage technologies. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) recently estimated that the cost of battery storage could fall by up to 66 per cent by 2030 so these technologies are becoming more affordable.

It is becoming clear that energy storage and flexibility is no longer optional for the UK if we are going to meet our net zero targets by 2050. 