There is no hiding from it. Energy resilience, security and cost is a source of concern across industries in Europe. To support organisations, there have been policies and price caps across countries protecting businesses from the volatile market forces, many of which are set to end in 2024. While it is likely that further support packages will be put in place after that date, these types of policy must eventually come to a head and businesses need to be prepared.

As sustainability remains front and centre in the energy transition, there is an added layer of process and potential cost that organisations are contending with. Leaders need to be sure of their short and long-term planning to maintain reliance and uptime, particularly when moving to a decentralised model.

Short-term transitions 
Overcoming energy resilience issues is usually facilitated through short-term temporary solutions. Whether increasing a facility’s energy capacity through grid shortfalls, providing back-up power in an outage or powering sites during maintenance, short-term contracts are common for businesses with critical energy needs.

More recently across Europe, we have seen more and more organisations looking for solutions to bridge energy gaps when making their own energy transition. Now companies are faced with deadlines for government support across many markets there is added impetus to start making these changes now. A two-pronged challenge of energy security and the renewable transition has started to see organisations making serious infrastructure decisions towards decentralisation.

Making the switch to renewables overnight is not possible, financially or practically speaking. Overcoming the uptime challenge when transitioning requires careful planning, and short-term decentralised options are currently commonplace in Europe.

To ensure solutions provided as part of a short-term contract are efficient and as green as possible, Aggreko has been working with customers across Europe on making ‘greener upgrades’. This model allows energy requirements to be satisfied while introducing different technologies to reduce emissions and even save energy by reducing consumption.  

For instance, batteries used in conjunction with diesel, gas or HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil, sometimes known as renewable diesel) generator sets can reduce fuel consumption and provide a spinning reserve of energy storage, which further reduces spikes of consumption during peak usage periods. Those sites adopting solar power generation themselves – largely introduced in Spain and Italy with Benelux speeding up adoption – can also use batteries to provide energy storage for peak periods. Industries looking to decarbonise while retaining reliable power supply could make these kinds of upgrade without the capital strain, making real carbon savings while long-term plans are made.

Long-term planning 
A solution growing in popularity in Europe amid power supply challenges and mentioned as a route for organisations in the EU energy market reform are power purchase agreements (PPAs). Differing to classic short-term contracts, PPAs are centred around providing power based on the unit cost of energy rather than equipment. This longer-term investment allows for more flexibility and adaptability for overcoming resilience issues, sustainability needs and supply requirements, working alongside grid power or completely separate from it.

More pertinent as companies look to a more long-term strategy, a PPA is a truly adaptable agreement to enter into. Over time, as new technologies become available or power requirements change, the specified solution can be evolved. For instance, while it is true that capital constraints mean technologies such as batteries aren’t widely adopted, high costs should come down and result in more uptake – something we have already seen with solar technology before.

A solution being deployed across global markets by Aggreko, with a growing appetite in Europe, smart microgrids are likely to provide the foundation for scalable PPAs. These use innovative software to regulate the usage from renewable sources such as solar and wind, the decentralised generation and power storage elements provided by Aggreko, and the grid supply while decentralisation takes place. A more controlled approach to using and storing energy as demand changes on a facility means smart microgrids could iron out energy resilience issues while companies find the most suitable decentralised solution for them.

Building resilience 
Energy intensive industries across Europe now have an opportunity. Organisations which lead progress will be those which address resilience challenges now and look to move to a more renewable decentralised model. But with financial constraints preventing immediate switching to new technologies, there are measures that high energy users can adopt to make more of a smooth transition.

To help energy intensive sectors such as manufacturing, data centres and petrochemical refineries with building resilience in their facilities, Aggreko has recently launched a report: Race to Resilience, which outlines the practical solutions for different industries and their distinct challenges – whether around energy resilience and supply or driving sustainable development.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are strictly those of the author only and are not necessarily given or endorsed by or on behalf of the Energy Institute.