Client Problem
Blue Sea Foods, a Devon-based sea food manufacturing business, had installed multiple solar photovoltaic systems across their multiple roofs at their main site in Paignton, Devon. They had no access to the generation and / or on-site usage of the generated energy. In addition, they had no data to verify whether their feed-in-tariff & export payments were correct.
The client needed a solution that would determine & provide access to multiple real / near-time objective values which were:
how much energy they were generating,
how much energy they were importing from the Grid, and
how much of their generated energy was being used on-site, whilst
receiving regular projections of their income from the solar assets.
In addition, given the high reliance on electricity for their manufacturing plant, Blue Sea also needed greater clarity on their electrical consumption across their main plant and some of their sub -processes.
More recently, they are looking to determine how to move towards zero carbon over the next few decades by using the data to support a considered process.
Argand’s Solution
After an initial survey at the site, it was determined that the client already had multiple modbus-enabled electricity meters installed on their main incoming distribution board.
Argand Solutions supplied a data monitoring hub to interface with these meters and extract real-time demand data from the main incoming supply and all of the sub-meters representing electrical consumption not only from their main incoming supply but also for the separate areas of their business supplied by sub-distribution boards. This data was collected at 30 minute intervals and was available to view in real-time via our GridLENZ platform. This provided them with a solution that leveraged their existing infrastructure i.e. meters without the need for an expensive retro-fit.
We then supplied individual GSM electricity meters for each of the existing solar installations to extract the solar generation in real-time - visualised via the GridLENZ platform.
All of the data also allowed Argand to determine the on-site use (by using export data from their main incoming supply meter) and allowed the client to determine the effectiveness of the system towards their zero-carbon objectives.
In addition, we provided a branch monitoring solution for one of their manufacturing distribution boards to enable greater visibility
Client Benefits
The result has been to enable the client to install solar PV within a complex HV site network without the need for a shut down or to significantly upgrade the HV sub-stations. The project would not have gone ahead if the client did not have a solution that could meet all the complex needs. This has meant that the project has been able to take place - leading to significant electrical energy cost savings and CO2 reductions at the site.