Businesses who are dependent on power, heating or cooling to run core processes are increasingly turning to distributed energy solutions to deliver low-cost, secure and sustainable energy.
Manufacturing is an industry with a voracious appetite for energy. Whether you’re producing chemicals, food, metals or paper, your business is likely to be a high energy user.
Set against this is the pressure incumbent on UK manufactures to manage their costs, while simultaneously reducing their carbon footprint to meet tough targets.
Businesses also need to make efficiency savings while battling the increasing volatility of energy costs.
But manufacturing companies facing such issues can now harness the power of ‘distributed energy’, which draws on such technologies as solar and battery storage to make it flexible and cost effective.
This article first appeared in the November issue of The Manufacturer magazine. Click here to subscribe
Why choose distributed energy?
Distributed energy systems leverage several small-scale technologies to produce power close to where they are needed – meaning demand and supply can be better regulated to improving efficiency and cut costs.
These include clean energy sources such as solar and battery storage, together with natural gas-fired combined heat and power (CHP) units that provide flexibility or efficient heating and cooling.
Pharmaceutical, chemicals, food and beverage, and automotive manufacturers are among those who could derive the greatest value from a more integrated network, alongside those with production processes susceptible to costly brownouts.
Private networks can also provide more resilience, therefore giving businesses peace of mind to focus on their daily operations.
As Richard Cave-Bigley, Sector Director of Distributed Generation & Storage at SSE Enterprise, explains, energy providers have to move with the times to meet demand.
“The power landscape of today is evolving quickly, and as the technology and business environment develops, energy solutions are developing too,” says Richard.
“The implementation of distributed energy solutions could help companies across a broad range of sectors in Britain turn their energy supply into an advantage by managing risk, reducing costs and boosting reliability.
“SSE Enterprise can help you do this by managing the integration and optimisation of these systems with your business and with the grid, while you concentrate on your core business.
“We also have the capacity to bring together such additional services as electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure and smart city platforms to provide more holistic solutions for our clients.”
Why partner with SSE Enterprise?
SSE Enterprise has a proven pedigree of providing distributed energy solutions. This includes developing its capacity to deliver conventional forms of on-site energy infrastructure, such as CHP, right through to its newer offerings such as its Virtual Power Plant platforms that can control and integrate distributed energy assets remotely.
SSE Enterprise has identified three key areas it regards as an immediate priority for manufacturing companies looking to better manage their energy demands:
- Cost control and income creation
- Decarbonisation
- Resilience and business continuity
The role of SSE Enterprise within SSE Group is to deliver value for customers in areas that complement the Group’s core Renewables and Networks energy portfolio; for example, EV infrastructure, solar, energy monitoring and district heating.
SSE Group is a FTSE 100 company with sustainability at the heart of its operations. It has adopted four fundamental business goals for 2030, which are aligned to the UN’s own Sustainable Development Goals to combat climate change and help build a low-carbon world.
“We bring these goals and values to our work and customers every day.”
Need further information?
For an example of the type of distributed energy service SSE Enterprise provides, please see: www.sseutilitysolutions.co.uk/insights/case-studies/
For further information, contact Richard and his team on: [email protected]
*All images courtesy of Depositphotos.