Buying and managing
August 1st 2005 There is a startling contrast in demand for energy procurement and energy management services compared to just 3 or 4 years ago according to Broadfern, a UK energy consultancy. Price increases are driving the demand for outsourcing energy management he professional energy management and procurement company believes that many of its clients find it essential to draw on its energy management expertise as well as their more traditional specialist procurement services.
“An increasing majority of our clients, covering every sector of UK industry, are approaching us about energy management in addition to the essential procurement of their electricity and gas,” says Simon Butterfield, partner at Broadfern.
“There are many reasons why energy management has come to the fore, but a key driver is spiralling costs, increases in electricity and gas prices that we can only see continuing for the foreseeable future. There is also the need to consider the environmental impact of company activities and compliance with new legislation.
We help a lot of our clients initially with their CCL agreements and then go on to look at other energy management issues on their behalf”.
Recently, the UK has seen a proliferation of consultancies offering energy management services to a raft of clients who require direction; but the focus can no longer remain on finding the lowest prices with the most competitive supplier. With the Kyoto Protocol and the introduction of the Climate Change Levy, UK businesses need to find innovative ways in which to reduce their energy consumption. Broadfern offers both traditional and new energy efficiency measures to support and assist their client base.
Energy Health Check Operations manager at Broadfern, Caroline Bailey comments, “At Broadfern, we provide an energy management ‘health check’ to all of our clients as part of our service.
After visiting client sites, looking at equipment and operating practices we are able to provide a detailed report on what steps a client might be able to take in order to improve their energy management.” Power factor correction A number of Broadfern clients have benefited from the installation of power factor correction equipment and have seen a reduction in the available supply capacity required by their sites, raising the Power Factor to an optimum level and eliminating significant reactive charges.
Sub-metering Broadfern use sub-metering to understand and benchmark where energy is used within a client’s premises. Broadfern’s Butterfield comments, “With many organisations making open-ended, unlimited transactions with their energy provider each day, there are clear benefits and savings that can be realised if monitoring and targeting energy use is implemented. For example, demand peaks can be identified and consequently reduced in order to save money. It is very much a principle of ‘you cannot control what you do not measure’.” Technical studies Broadfern’s technical support teams provide feasibility studies, which are an engineering based analysis of the major energy-using processes on site. These studies identify and prioritise major areas of energy waste and recommend corrective actions with the ultimate aim of improving a site’s energy efficiency.
Thermal imaging Thermal Imaging, a process used to detect energy wastage, involves surveying the electrical, structural and/or mechanical parts of a building by viewing invisible thermal radiation with specialised equipment. The surveys are generally carried out under normal working conditions with no interruption to site operation. Broadfern affirms that thermal imaging is a valuable tool for predictive and pro-active maintenance. It can instantly identify problem areas, locate faults and highlight concerns.
High voltage maintenance According to Broadfern High Voltage Maintenance should also be one of the first priorities for any organisation.
Bailey says, “If a site has HV equipment, the company is obliged by law to ensure that it is maintained to prevent danger to personnel. High Voltage Maintenance is often carried out with less vigour than Low Voltage Maintenance in many companies.” Energy Management is being pushed far higher up the company agenda than ever before. Perhaps it is not surprising with electricity and gas prices at an all time high, that people with responsibility for energy have been spurred on to take action.
“A sound policy of energy management can have the same effect on bottom line profits as would otherwise take a 20% increase in turnover to achieve. Those in very contrasting positions of responsibility such as energy managers, financial directors and engineers are starting to focus on energy saving and this shift in attitude is welcomed by Broadfern,” states Simon Butterfield. More articles from Broadfern: | 
