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Unlock Energy Savings and Efficiency with Voltage Optimisation

The UK, as well as the rest of mainland Europe, is facing an extreme energy price crisis as the cost of wholesale gas and electricity continues to climb. This week saw Bulb Energy, the UK’s seventh largest energy supplier, enter special administration. It is the 23rd supplier overall to cease trading in recent months due to the ongoing energy price crunch, and by far the largest with 1.7 million customers.

Intelligent energy procurement has typically been used by many businesses as the primary way to minimise their energy costs. However, with wholesale energy prices expected to rise 30% in 2022, and fixed price deals being limited,  procurement alone won’t be enough to prevent significant price increases. In addition, effective procurement relies in part to a competitive energy supply market, and the sudden surge of suppliers going to the wall is rapidly trimming down those options. Ofgem figures showed that in the second quarter of 2021, there were 50 energy suppliers operating in the UK. Nearly half of them have ceased to trade or entered administration during Q3.

As options to switch supplier dwindle, it becomes less of a guarantee that you will have access to the same energy tariffs or guaranteed renewable energy supply in the case that your organisation is forced to switch supplier. Invariably, your best option in terms of both tackling rising prices and retaining greater control over the sustainability of your energy is simply to use less of it.

There are a host of technologies available that can be used to either generate power on-site, such as solar PV or CHP, or to reduce and optimise your energy consumption overall, such as a battery storage system or more efficient building processes. One of the most cost-effective and impactful technologies available, particularly in terms of outright reduction in energy costs, is voltage optimisation and regulation.

Voltage regulation improves your energy efficiency and reduces consumption by eliminating wasted energy that stems from overvoltage. National Grid are contractually obliged to supply end energy users with power at 230V, with an allowed deviance of 10% above or 6% below. In practice, voltage fluctuates significantly. For most end-users, they will be received a higher voltage, with the average being 242V.

Most equipment and appliances are rated at 220V. Therefore, in most cases they are being supplied with more electricity than required for them to run optimally. This adds significantly to your power consumption, as well as causing additional wear and tear on equipment. At a time when energy prices are rising rapidly and the picture for next year is looking equally daunting, simply wasting a significant proportion of the energy you pay for via overvoltage is a mounting cost that could be avoided.

Installing voltage optimisation technology allows your incoming power supply to be automatically monitored and conditioned, dynamically reducing incoming voltage to reduce your total consumption and provide your equipment with the optimal power levels to operate most efficiently. Voltage regulation also performs an important power resilience function, smoothing out the momentary sags, spikes and other disruptions in your mains power supply that risk disrupting or even damaging sensitive equipment.

The savings offered by voltage management will depend on the voltage that your site is currently supplied with, but for many sites savings can be between 8% and 12% of overall electricity consumption, effective from the point of installation. Voltage regulation can be installed easily and with minimum disruption, with our installation teams working around your existing schedules to avoid any disruption to your day-to-day operations.

The first step towards installing voltage regulation is for Powerstar’s expert team to perform a preliminary proposal based on your site’s energy data to establish how the technology could be incorporated into your existing power infrastructure and the savings it could offer.