3 Advantages of Microgrids Energy for Businesses

Companies are realising the need to take preventive and proactive measures to decarbonise not only their operations but also their entire value chain. A commitment to microgrid energy is probably one of the most effective measures in this regard, along with significant energy savings and the resulting increase in competitiveness.

"Microgrid" is a concept relative to the traditional "big grid", which refers to the use of advanced control technology and power electronic devices to connect distributed energy and its energy supply load and energy storage equipment to form a miniature complete grid. (For more information on microgrid, please read "What is a microgrid?")

Using the crisis as an opportunity to move forward

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a slowdown, if not stagnation, in most companies' businesses, threatening the survival of many companies around the world. However, it has also brought with it a time to explore new options and build new resilience, putting clean energy at the heart of corporate strategy. I'm talking about incorporating practices that, in addition to being sustainable, can provide an economic incentive for businesses. For example, distributed energy resources (DER), renewable energy or electric vehicles, which not only generate efficiency but also help to reduce CO2 emissions.

As the new energy landscape shifts, energy will become an asset, not just an expense. We will be able to control it, not just consume it. In fact, today's technology already allows this, and this is where microgrid energy comes in.

Whereas in the past microgrid energy was mainly used to maintain business continuity in the event of power outages and grid failures, companies are now adopting microgrids to better manage their on-site renewable energy resources, such as solar PV installations or storage. Among the many advantages of microgrids for businesses, I would like to highlight three areas that are particularly beneficial to companies.

1. Sustainability

Yes, sustainability is an important business advantage, now more than ever. Pressure for sustainability from customers, governments and even shareholders is increasing. So much so that companies are sometimes struggling to find economically viable ways to improve their environmental performance. Microgrids offer a cost-effective and efficient way of incorporating sustainable energy resources into their operations.

In this way, microgrid with battery storage can be an interesting tool for companies to both reduce their energy costs and improve their sustainability. Especially if they have set environmental targets, such as reducing emissions and increasing the use of renewable energy.

2. Flexibility

As we know, renewable energy sources are inherently intermittent and vary depending on the time of day or weather conditions, which can cause instability in the availability and quality of distributed generation. A stable system is one that stores excess energy by integrating storage, such as batteries, for use when grid prices are high, and manages this through a software system that optimises its use, predicts its contribution, buys power from the main grid when prices are low, and so on.

Thus, microgrid bess can not only reduce costs but even provide customers with an additional source of income by exporting surplus energy or actively managing energy demand. This gives companies new control in the flexibility market, becoming quasi-consumers and enabling them to make decisions that have a positive impact on their bottom line. This is where energy becomes an asset.

3. Resilience

Many companies - and individuals - don't realise that much of the solar energy currently deployed is cut off in the event of a power outage. Those with solar panels will find that solar power alone does not allow them to generate their own grid when it goes down. In order to keep it running, it needs to have an element that forms the grid (such as a battery storage system and/or a generator), as well as a control element to operate it. While this may not be the most common need, as we have a fairly robust grid, the penetration of renewables and the closure of basic power stations does increase, leading to a more unstable transmission and distribution network. As a result, companies will increasingly face the need for reliable supply and back-up systems.

There are already plants where the quality of supply is not "ideal" and affects their production processes. Here, microgrid energy and its ability to maintain a stable and self-sufficient internal grid provides an additional advantage to those already mentioned. Power outages or micro-stops can lead to prolonged downtime of production equipment, resulting in scrapping of products in progress, quality problems with finished products, high repair costs, disruption of deliveries, etc. An outage of as little as 30 minutes can cost a company or factory over hundreds of thousands of dollars. No company wants to have to multiply this figure over the course of a year.  

The end-user microgrid with battery storage concept is a special form of aggregation

In this form, passive consumers of energy become active - depending on the deployment at the facility, we have everything from fully manageable generation, storage and consumption to the ability to operate isolated from the grid. These deployments of microgrid energy to end-users such as buildings, industry and campuses have enormous potential. One of their strengths is their resilience to common grid events such as power equipment failures and weather-related events, but also due to the shifting of critical loads (loads that are disconnected from the grid to meet demand, but which are connected to the microgrid's internal local grid. Loads are not affected, bills are minimised as they stop consuming from the grid and additional revenue is generated by providing services to the grid in load disconnection mode). Thus, considering flexibility as a parameter, microgrids maximise the concept of flexibility from the perspective of active consumers, offering explicit flexibility - services provided by microgrid energy to the grid and tradable in different markets - and implicit or local flexibility - services deployed in the microgrid itself based on energy prices.

Among large active consumers, such as in power-intensive or continuous process industries, microgrids enable them to plan and manage their respective processes, taking into account the price and availability of electricity, which has a direct impact on operating accounts.

The benefits offered by microgrid energy are the integration of renewable, sustainable and CO2-free energy sources, with secure access and cost optimisation (in the search for profitability and competitiveness).

In conclusion, it can be said that microgrid storage provides space for the three axes of the energy trilemma and therefore for the democratisation of energy.

In conclusion, sustainability, flexibility and resilience are the three tangible business benefits that microgrid energy offers companies today, giving them the ability to control their energy sources and opening up a range of new business possibilities. These possibilities will undoubtedly continue to expand as the energy landscape continues to evolve.

BSLBATT ESS battery

As a microgrid company, BSLBATT can provide customers with solutions such as hybrid microgrids and utility-scale energy storage systems to minimise the cost of power generation, provide reliable power to remote areas or reduce electricity bills for businesses and industries. BSLBATT Microgrid designs and manufactures efficient, non-toxic and long-lasting energy storage and management systems using non-toxic lithium iron phosphate (LFP). storage and management systems, we combine non-toxic LFP energy storage chemistry with our proprietary battery and cell architecture, manufacturing processes and materials, power electronics and battery management systems (BMS) to create safe, reliable, durable and highly scalable - on-demand power solutions for the residential, commercial, industrial, military, emergency back-up and telecommunications industries.