Contributing to a greener future needn’t cost your business

Bord Gáis Energy has launched an innovative new approach to energy management

Bord Gáis Energy, supplier of energy and services to over 710,000 homes, businesses and organisations across Ireland, is supporting more sustainable choices on energy use and energy management.

Through its partnership with Centrica Business Solutions, introduced to the Irish market in 2018, Bord Gáis Energy has launched an innovative approach to energy management through Demand Side Management (DSM), which can help businesses turn their energy footprint into a source of competitive advantage, whilst helping bolster Ireland’s position on sustainable energy use.

We are experiencing a transformational time within the energy industry; the way energy is sourced, generated and supplied is evolving at pace. Businesses are recognising the need for a more modern way to buy and use energy — one that encourages a flexible approach to energy management, using technology to monitor and manage usage in real time, and leverage the opportunities that this new energy environment brings.

Ultimately, this now enables customers to take control of their own supply and improve performance through Demand Side Management services. With the increasing level of variable generation, the grid requires an increasing level of response from stable generators and now also customers, through Demand Side Management tools.

EirGrid, which is responsible for maintaining the balance between electricity supply and electricity demand, ensures that Ireland is generating as much power as its consumers demand at a frequency level suitable for customer use. For this to happen, it needs to maintain the grid frequency at around 50Hz, managing variations around this level that are caused by sudden changes in supply or demand.

Now, given our energy system’s increasing reliance on renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, whose outputs are cleaner but less predictable than traditional sources like gas and coal, maintaining the grid frequency at 50Hz is becoming more difficult. This consequently increases the risk of supply interruptions. DSM can provide a solution towards this problem, while simultaneously enhancing your businesses energy strategy, helping you to optimise your energy usage and unlocking hidden revenues.

How DSM works

Think of DSM in the same context as the phrase ‘supply and demand’. The ‘demand side’ is where the energy is consumed and used. The ‘supply side’ is where the electricity is generated and how it is delivered to the site. At times of peak electricity demand, or reduced levels of production from renewable sources, an energy intensive factory may be incentivised financially by EirGrid to reduce its overall consumption during this peak, thus helping with grid stability. Alternatively, the reduction may be in response to a price peak.

Determine the best route to value

Bord Gáis Energy’s dedicated DSM team will work with you to identify the best solution for your business. Using patented technology, they will connect your assets to the grid, enabling you to monetise flexibility. When a request is received from the grid, your energy usage is adjusted to help balance demand and supply. Bord Gáis Energy can manage your inclusion, ensuring your operational efficiency isn’t affected. At the conclusion of the request event, settlement is automatically completed within our energy-management platform, summarising incentives you are entitled to receive for your assistance to the grid.

What benefits will your business receive?

The award-winning energy management platform is the heart of Bord Gáis Energy’s DSM service and it will monitor your energy consumption in real time, linking it to its second-by-second monitoring of the grid requirements. This will enable you to transform the way your business manages energy and use this to power better business performance. Their DSM platform will allow you to access revenue and cost saving opportunities.

Through real time monitoring of your consumption, you will get back a host of benefits, including reduced energy bills, a regular income stream, development of a sustainable grid, management of risk through real-time energy monitoring, and insights into your operational activity and efficiency. Bord Gáis Energy’s DSM allows you to continue to operate normally, with no change to the way you run your business and their DSM team will help you develop strategies around energy efficiency, sustainability and renewable generation.

What does a typical DSM customer look like?

Bord Gáis Energy’s experience to date shows that customers are looking for support in addressing four key issues in terms of energy.

• Combating emissions — regulation is placing an increased focus on delivering a more sustainable economy.

• Providing resilience — ensuring that power requirements are met now and in the future.

• Capital expenditure — upfront costs can be prohibitive.

• Design and operation — providing the expertise to provide the right solutions and the ongoing maintenance and optimisation of energy saving infrastructure

DSM is ideal for any large energy-consuming customer who is looking to combat these issues, take control of their energy management and use it to add value to their business. Specifically, it suits businesses who are able to leverage flexibility in their energy consumption and use this for commercial and operational advantage. Commercial advantages come from being responsive to the grid’s needs and providing services when required. Operational advantages come from additional resilience and management of existing energy assets. Industry sectors already benefiting from DSM include manufacturing, healthcare, datacentres, cold storage, industrial processing plants and water treatment plants.

‘Bord Gáis Energy’s dedicated DSM team will work with you to identify the best solution for your business’

Why choose Bord Gáis Energy for your DSM?

Bord Gáis Energy is more than just a commodity supplier. It works as an energy partner to businesses, big and small, across Ireland, providing a full suite of energy services. Where businesses once saw energy as a cost, Bord Gáis Energy can help them understand it as a source of value and sustainable, competitive advantage. With over 35 years of expertise in the energy sector and award-winning DSM software, FlexPond™, Bord Gais Energy can offer your business full end-to-end management of your site(s) flexibility and will always strive to offer the best return for your business.

How Bord Gáis Energy works with your business

To help deliver the best solutions for your business, Bord Gáis Energy has a three-stage approach.

1. Speak to Bord Gáis Energy today If you are interested in Demand Side Management for your business, email DSU@bordgais.ie and a member of their dedicated Key Account Management team will contact you within two working days.

2. Site survey Bord Gáis Energy will organise a suitable time to conduct a survey of your site(s) to make sure it finds the right cost-effective and flexible solution to suit your business needs.

3. Installation Once you are happy to go ahead, Bord Gáis Energy will project-manage your entire installation for you. It will work with you to ensure you receive the best possible return and will continue to support your evolving energy-efficiency strategy.

Through Bord Gáis Energy’s partnership with Centrica Business Solutions, it is able to offer innovative energy management solutions to help Irish businesses deliver improvements in operational performance, create opportunities for growth and reduce energy spend. Bord Gáis Energy’s focus is on helping business owners to make better energy-use choices, therefore helping the environment while also supporting the low-carbon ambition of the programme for government.