Energy storage as a cost optimizer - Energate industrial energy storage from Elmech
In the industry, energy costs affect the final price of the manufactured product and translate into the competitiveness of enterprises, especially those with energy-intensive production.
In a situation of dynamically growing energy costs, one of the solutions and safeguards against instability and unpredictability is the use of energy storage facilities supported by renewable sources, such as photovoltaic installations. Energy storage can make full use of their production capacity and mitigate the effects of rising prices. In addition, they stabilize the parameters and improve the quality of electricity.
In households, the costs of energy supplied are regulated by the President of the Energy Regulatory Office. In industry, there is a free market and electricity prices are shaped by power plants and trading companies. The cost of energy supply includes fees for distribution services and electricity.
The costs of distribution services result from the tariff of the Distribution System Operator or the Transmission System Operator. Tariff rates result from justified costs incurred by operators and are approved by the President of the Energy Regulatory Office.
We are in a situation on the market where distribution rates have increased by approx. 5%. compared to the previous year. Distribution rates, however, are not the end, energy purchase costs increased by almost 500% during this time.
Properly selected energy storage will allow you to reduce the costs of supplied energy by purchasing energy at the lowest prices and using it during peak and most expensive hours. The price difference for 1 MWh in peak and off-peak hours is very high. Between the morning peak and off-peak hours it is PLN 566, and in relation to the afternoon peak it is as much as PLN 1,468. It is therefore profitable to buy energy during off-peak hours and use it during peak hours.
The energy storage will also reduce the costs of electricity distribution or charges resulting from the network rate. By purchasing energy during periods of reduced demand and its storage, it can be used during peak load hours.
You can also reduce the demand for power drawn from the power grid and thus the power ordered for each month of the year, for which the fee in the B23 tariff is PLN 16.02 per kW.
The capacity fee is charged for each kWh consumed, but only between 7 a.m. and 9:59 p.m. on business days, Monday through Friday. By purchasing energy from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., and storing it for use during peak hours, not only do we not pay the capacity fee on this amount, but we can also change the energy purchase profile and reduce the cost of this fee for all energy from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. from the rate PLN 102.6 per MWh to approximately PLN 17 per MWh.
—Arkadiusz Marat, President of the Management Board of Elmech-ASE.
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Expert commentary
Based on the standard price list of Energa Obrót SA and the tariff of Energa Operator SA, an analysis of the costs of energy supply to a company with a contracted capacity was carried out
500 kW without energy storage and with 250 kW energy storage with a capacity of 1000 kWh. The analysis showed savings in energy supply costs at the level of 650 thousand PLN in a company working in two shifts and PLN 740 thousand PLN in a company working three shifts a year. The investment should pay for itself in seven years or less, depending on the price of storage and skyrocketing energy costs. It should also be taken into account that energy prices from the summer period were adopted for the analysis. What will they be like in winter? It should be estimated not lower. There will be less energy from PV installations, but more from wind farms, so there will be more energy at night, i.e. when prices are low, and purchasing energy at night may be even more profitable.
- Mieczysław Wrocławski, Vice-President of the Management Board of PSME, member of the Coordinating Council for the Development of the Photovoltaic Sector.