POWER June 2022 - 20

COMMERCIAL & INDUSTRIAL POWER
Reliability, Resiliency, Cost,
and Climate Driving C&I Power
Systems
Commercial and industrial (C&I) entities want to ensure they have electricity when
they need it. Businesses also are looking at sustainability, decarbonization, and
control of their energy costs as factors when installing their own power generation
systems, which may utilize a variety of technologies.
Darrell Proctor
anufacturing plants, data centers,
healthcare facilities, business
complexes, and college
campuses are among the commercial
and industrial (C&I) entities looking at
ways to improve their operations through
onsite power generation. It could be a
thermal option, utilizing a fossil-fueled cogeneration
plant; renewable energy from
solar, wind, or geothermal; or receiving
electricity from fuel cells or battery energy
storage. The use of small modular
reactor (SMR) nuclear technology also
is being considered by at least one U.S.
university and has been discussed as
M
way to power remote locations.
" A trend we're seeing is that C&I businesses
across the country are choosing
to take control of their energy production
and implement power generation
systems, " said Manik Suri, founder and
CEO of Therma, a tech company focused
on refrigeration. " According to some estimates,
80% of companies believe that
a quarter of their energy production will
come from onsite resources by 2025. "
A range of hardware and software
technologies are available to build C&I
power systems, from both established
and emerging companies in the energy
space. Operations managers may want
better reliability and resiliency, and more
control of their energy costs, or the focus
could be on decarbonization, and
environmental, social, and governance
(ESG) goals.
" Environmental, social, and governance
[initiatives] are increasing as major
considerations across regions, " said
Mourad Chergui, senior product manager
at Delta-Q Technologies, a Canadian
provider of battery charging solutions.
" Two factors driving ESG changes in
power systems for C&I organizations
are consumer demands and govern20
ment
regulations. For example, there is
an increased demand from consumers
to have a cleaner environment, putting
more social responsibility on companies
to improve sustainability practices.
Government, in many places, also plays
a critical role in reducing emissions by
issuing regulations that are in favor of
renewable sources and cleaner energy. "
Controlling Energy Costs
" Self-generation of energy is an effective
way to circumvent future increases
in energy prices, " said Jacob Feutz, program
manager for EnTech Solutions, a
group designing energy solutions that
can evolve with business needs. " As
the world transitions from fossil fuels
to electrified applications, having control
over the power generation aspect of
operational costs will be important for all
types of businesses. "
Suri told POWER, " The first step is to
implement simple changes that make
your business more energy-efficient,
such as installing efficient lighting/HVAC
[heating, ventilation, air conditioning] and
promoting sustainable practices across
1. Windspire is a vertical axis wind turbine,
and can be manufactured in a variety of sizes
for use by commercial and industrial enterprises-in
this case, sited in the parking area of a
business. Courtesy: Windspire Energy
significant new technologies coming in
energy storage, which will further improve
the financial and resiliency benefits
of onsite generation. Energy costs
always seem to be the primary driver of
power system projects, but the secondary
goals of resiliency and sustainability
play a very strong role in getting a project
to pencil out. If the business needs
onsite generation for cost or resiliency
" There are significant new technologies
coming in energy storage, which will further
improve the financial and resiliency benefits
of onsite generation. "
-Jacob Feutz, program manager
for EnTech Solutions
the company culture. Clean operations
lay the groundwork for choosing an optimal
onsite power generation system. "
" From a power generation standpoint,
the future mostly holds improvements
in efficiency and production of existing
types of assets, " said Feutz. " There are
www.powermag.com
reasons, they should also take that opportunity
to address their sustainability
goals as well. "
C&I customers have many issues to
consider when choosing a power generation
system. The system's size and
technology, location, permitting, and opPOWER
| June 2022
http://www.powermag.com
POWER June 2022

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