Loss is a sinkhole for any business focused on managing their resources and functioning at optimum levels. Like internal detectives, we search out our own waste, misuse and redundancies that can help improve our efficiencies and our bottom line. But none are stronger than their weakest link and therefore, our suppliers must also improve efficiencies, tighten performance, and evolve.
One such area that rarely gets the same scrutiny is that of power supplier. With a growing need for power enterprise-wide, data centers and server rooms for example are expected, according to a study by the Department of Energy, to consume 125B kWh of electricity in 2011 and that number is growing by 14% a year. With power expected to be the #1 expense of an organization's nervous system -- their data center -- by 2014, its time to examine the loss at the point of creation and through energy transmission and consider alternatives that would allow the power to be created more closely to the source of its use.
Most power plants in the US lose as much as 70% of their energy as they produce electricity, allowing that energy, to basically, go up in smoke as its burned to create the power we need. If the plant is lucky enough to be a newer gas burning power plant it loses only 65% in production. The next stage of loss occurs as the energy travels to its buyer, losing 10-15% along the way. As it travels along the aging grid, load issues can occur because of population densities that have gone beyond the grid’s capabilities. Issues in quality can also exist, including sags, dips and other inconsistent power quality issues. Despite all of these issues, we still accept delivery no matter the quality.
To be able to see beyond the accepted norm requires innovative thinking and a creative mind. Find out how ClearEdge Power is bringing new ways of thinking about clean continuous power to companies like yours – that desire better, clean and more consistent energy.