Landis+Gyr set up a pilot for a Smart Energy Management system at their UK HQ, The Landing, in Manchester, UK, to gain insights on energy generation and usage across the site. 

With emerging new technologies, evolving energy landscape, and new challenges, the roles in the energy ecosystem are changing. To ensure safe, available, and reliable energy for all, the energy system will have to accommodate consumers playing a significant role in shaping the energy landscape and helping the transition to more sustainable and efficient energy systems by making decisions about how and how much energy to use and when to use it.

Active participation in the energy system requires smart infrastructure guided by efficient and scalable smart energy management, which helps to optimise the use of energy in the building or facility with the use of real-time data analytics and local production predictions.

KEY CHALLENGES

• Combining local renewable energy production and energy storage with building consumption and EV charging
• Monitoring of the energy production and consumption on-site to identify optimisation opportunities
• Contributing to ESG targets by reducing CO2 emissions of the business facility
• Securing green energy for EV charging infrastructure today with the potential for expansion

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Landis+Gyr, a global industry leader in energy management solutions, providing advanced metering and cutting-edge smart grid technologies, initiated a pilot for a Smart Energy Management system (SEM) at their facility, The Landing, in Manchester, UK. They partnered up with Egg, the UK provider of sustainable energy solutions, to install solar panels, batteries, and EV charge points.

Smart Energy Management at the Landis+Gyr facility operates with a toolset of 100 kW solar power plant, 40 kWh of battery storage, Landis+Gyr smart meters, in-house developed SEM tool, Etrel INCH Duo, Etrel INCH Pro chargers, Etrel Load Guard, and Etrel OCEAN charge point & energy management system. The whole ecosystem works together, optimizing the efficiency and effectiveness of energy usage.

Landis+Gyr’s Smart Energy Management visualization tool offers an overview of:

 

Historic and predicted energy consumption

• Real-time energy ecosystem view – daily electricity sources (grid, solar, battery discharge) and usage (building, EV, battery charge), self-sufficiency, near real-time grid import, and CO2 intensity level for the location
• Energy import – actuals and predictions of costs and volume

Energy insights (weekly overview)

• Total building energy consumption, battery electricity stored, energy usage from the grid, power generated from solar, EV charging, and carbon insights

ESG insights (CO2 emissions)

• CO2 emissions generated from the use of the energy from the grid
• CO2 emissions avoided through self-generated energy and by driving an electric vehicle instead of an internal combustion engine vehicle

EV charging (integration of Etrel’s charging portfolio with Landis+Gyr’s SEM visualisation tool):

• The status of the EV chargers on site (occupied/vacancy, start and end time of charging, energy consumption)
• Charger booking/occupancy calendar for employees

INCH charging stations form an autonomous cluster and dynamically shift the charging power between charging vehicles based on pre-set cluster limits. Using a Load Guard device provides INCH chargers with the necessary data to dynamically adjust charging load based on actual consumption in the building.

Our OCEAN charge point & energy management system is used for monitoring and control of the INCH charging stations. It is used to get the necessary data about charging sessions, energy usage, and EV drivers/users to the Smart Energy Management visualization tool.

RESULTS AND KEY TAKEAWAYS

The smart energy management system at Landis+Gyr Manchester is already showing some positive smart energy management outcomes that any business can benefit from:

• Load profile optimization with the BESS (Battery Energy Storage System) combining EV charging from the local energy production and energy from the grid at off-peak times
• A step towards energy self-sufficiency with the energy produced through the installed solar panels and battery storage
• A potential new revenue stream from energy exported to the grid
• Significant impacts on reducing CO2 emissions (additional with provided EV charging)
• Cost-saving opportunities:
  • • offsetting the costs of higher energy consumption due to EV charging with renewables and battery charge at low tariffs
  • • through various government funds and with possible future funding in innovative pilot projects

Insights from SEM (first 10 months of operations)

Generated 69.34 MWh / 29% of Usage
Best day 669 kWh (20th June) – 60% of Usage

14.86 MWh from BESS / 7% of Usage
23% charged from solar
77% charged during off-peak
Best month c. 1MWh from excess solar

Exported 9.011 kWh to Grid
Potential 12.5pper kWh revenue = £1,126

10,787 kg of CO₂ Emissions Saved (solar & EV)
Est. Emission performance p.a. reduced
from 75 kg to 25 kg of CO₂/m2
EPC from B45 to Low A / High B

700 EV charging sessions
10,700kWh delivered.
Estimated 6,311 kg of CO₂ avoided versus typical Petrol/Diesel vehicle
Estimated equivalent ICE fuel cost (inc. VAT) of c. £5,900

Saved c. £25k with Solar and BESS
Reduced peak period energy from the grid by cca 37%
and off-peak by 19% (even after BESS charging)

ROI c 4-4.5 years (based on current energy prices)
The system has a forecast lifespan of 25 years. Based on current energy prices has the potential to deliver in excess of £0.6M in savings after the payback period.

A smart energy management system is crucial for companies to actively engage in the energy ecosystem, thus optimising their energy consumption. Landis+Gyr, with the help of its subsidiary company Etrel’s EV charging portfolio, created a successful set of tools for smart energy management at their facility in Manchester, UK. The implemented system gives a positive outlook on the future and shows that with the right tools and well-informed decisions, users can manage their energy consumption better and significantly contribute to the clean energy transition.

Interested to learn more about Etrel EV charging solutions and how to upgrade your energy management on the site? Get in touch with our local experts.