POWER magazine, a leading source of information for the power generation industry, has published an article highlighting the benefits of Viking Cold’s Thermal Energy Storage (TES) technology in managing power demand for utilities and cold storage customers.
The article, authored by Collin Coker, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Viking Cold, gave an overview of the changing energy landscape, where factors such as the increase in Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) and the variability of renewable generation sources are having a bearing on power providers’ ability to manage demand when and where it is needed.
Coker points out that time of use, capacity, transmission, and distribution all impact the total cost of electricity for the end-user. This presents an acute issue for food businesses with commercial and industrial (C&I) refrigerated facilities, where a continuous energy supply is needed to control temperature fluctuations and avoid any damage being caused to the products being stored.
Underlining this point, he cites data showing that C&I refrigeration sites have the highest demand per square foot of any industrial load, with energy often accounting for up to 70% of their total electric bill.
Coker explains how Viking Cold’s TES technology has been designed specifically for such applications, using proprietary Phase Change Material that remains near a constant temperature while storing large amounts of energy that can be released over long periods, covering higher cost periods of peak demand.
Among the Viking Cold clients the article highlighted as managing demand through the use of TES was Dreisbach Enterprises in Richmond, California, which has reduced demand between 300 kW to 500 kW for 13 hours per day, six days a week while also improving temperature stability by 50% and avoiding the technique of ‘flywheeling’ on the food. Overall, Dreisbach Enterprises was able to achieve a cut in freezer energy consumption of 35%.
To read the full article, and for more news and insight into energy operations and maintenance, visit the POWER magazine website.
For more information on how Thermal Energy Storage can bring greater control and cost-savings to your cold storage facility, get in touch with Viking Cold today.
