In the energy sector, electricity consumption is also referred to as load. Load management thus describes the active control of electricity consumption and it is an important component of the smart grid. To this end, the existing infrastructure is being equipped with intelligent information and control technologies.

So-called load peaks occur when businesses have significantly higher electricity consumption at certain times. Energy costs rise even when these spikes occur infrequently. This is because, for industrial and commercial customers with an annual energy consumption of 100,000 kWh or more, the network charge costs are made up of the demand and capacity charge. The background to this is that electricity suppliers have to hold these unplanned services permanently, even if they are only called upon for a short time.

With the help of an energy storage system, companies can “cap” these peak loads. To do this, they draw the required energy from the battery storage system during peak phases, thus bridging the load peak and saving costs.

Benefits:

• Reduction of electricity costs
• Efficient energy management

How Peak shaving works

For example, during the start-up of production facilities, the increased power consumption causes at times so-called load peaks, which can sometimes result in very high costs. In order to cap peak loads above a certain level and reduce electricity costs, the company’s own energy generation plants can be added or battery storage systems can be used. The latter cover the required electricity demand with the stored energy. Electricity purchases thus remain within a defined, price-optimized range.