Peak shaving is defined as the reduction of electrical power usage by a facility during a period when the serving utility is experiencing a heavy demand for power. To help the utility to meet its power demand requirements, on site power at the customer’s site can be utilized.
Local electricity providers can supply companies with a rate schedule to help them determine peak hours, these vary by area, but normally range between 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. from June to September, sometimes longer in warmer states like Florida.
A great example of peak-shaving implementation is the work performed at the International Concourse E at Atlanta’s Hartsfield airport, where eight 1250kVM (1100kW) self-contained engine-generator modules were installed in a dual parallel 4160V scheme. For peak shaving duty, the generators can supply 8.8MW of prime power in parallel with the utility. In the emergency power mode, they can supply 10MW of emergency power to all critical loads and numerous selected loads as desired. This adjustment is bringing to airport savings of over $1 million dollars a year.
Nowadays is not uncommon for utility companies to pay customers to run their generators even for longer than their regular peak shaving schedule, bringing even more savings to companies and helping get the money invested in the generators back at a faster rate.
If you are considering applying a peak shaving schedule in your business we can help. Our expert team will help you find an unit with the capacity to fulfill your needs. We can even customize it with a control panel or an automatic transfer switch to make the operation and monitoring process easier for you and your staff. Call us today at (305)592-6800 or shoot us an email.
