Managing demand on the power grid, at best a never-ending balancing act between generation and load, has become an increasingly complex and challenging responsibility. Along with the urgent need to reduce carbon-based energy generation, consumer demand for energy is continuously growing and shifting. As the energy landscape evolves, power providers across the country, from utilities to retail energy providers, are facing a combination of factors that present significant challenges.
New distributed energy resources, or DERs, are being developed and integrated at an ever-increasing pace, with electric vehicles and renewable generation assets (and their variability) being brought online faster than previously predicted. Indeed, solar photovoltaic and onshore wind are now the cheapest sources of new-build generation for at least two-thirds of the global population, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).
Despite the impacts on new project deployments and the renewables supply chain due to the COVID-19 pandemic, renewable capacity additions this year are set to total 167 GW globally, according to the International Energy Agency’s Renewable Energy Market Update report. Overall global renewable power capacity is expanding and will grow by 6% in 2020.
- Commercial and industrial (C&I) refrigerated facilities that serve food businesses have the highest power demand per square foot of any industrial load. These C&I refrigeration sites also consume more electricity from the grid than any usage category, other than lighting. Courtesy: Viking Cold Solutions
All these factors make it more challenging for utilities to meet and manage demand when and where it is needed. This is particularly true when considering food businesses with commercial and industrial (C&I) refrigerated facilities (Figure 1), which have the highest demand per square foot of any industrial load. C&I refrigeration sites also consume more energy from the grid than any other usage category other than lighting. Significantly, energy often accounts for up to 70% of the total electric bill for C&I cold storage companies.
This food supply sector, also referred to as the “cold chain,” is designated as critical infrastructure and is of vital importance—particularly during the type of public health emergency the world has faced over the past several months, and will continue to face until the pandemic is under control.
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