New property development has expanded our sprawling cities.  Quaint suburbs have been sub-divided into units and town houses.  High rise apartment living is dotting the skyline.  It should be no surprise that infrastructure struggles to keep pace.

SGS Economics & Planning economist Terry Rawnsley’s view is that high density living needs to be more strategic, with growth focused in clusters of activity centres, where infrastructure and shopping already exist.

With this in mind, cost and environmental & social impact are key considerations when it comes to energy supply to high density property.   Areas owners should focus on are:

Contract Negotiation

Traditionally, the building owner has only been responsible for public lighting and power.  This can be very low energy usage, for example hallway lighting.  Property managers have learnt that tendering a volume of properties together is of more interest to an electricity retailer and use this buying power to negotiate lower rates.

Dedicated shopping centres and high density living are now typically supplied through what is called an “embedded network”.  Under this structure there is one supply point from the electricity grid servicing the whole facility.  This is supported by an internal network with tenant metering, which is managed and billed by the owner’s agent.  With the electricity use of public facilities and tenants combined, the owner is effectively now a large energy consumer, which provides buying power for negotiation.  There have been concerns over the rights of the tenant under this structure, which have been addressed through the Australian Energy Market Operator’s (AEMO) Power of Choice legislation. This legislation enables a tenant to opt out of their embedded network’s retail supply agreement by installing a second meter and contracting directly with an electricity retailer, though this can be cumbersome to put into practice.

Network Tariff Optimisation

Network Operators charge customers for providing and maintaining the infrastructure (poles and wires) that allows distribution of electricity to their property.  These charges (tariffs) can be structured in many ways, for example, single or time of use rates for kWh’s used, kW or kVA demand rates for the highest demand value over a particular time period and or a daily supply charge.  For large electricity users the charges are itemised, but for small users, they are bundled together with retail and government charges.  As tenancy and energy usage changes at a property, a network tariff optimisation review is recommended to ensure that the lowest cost option is maintained.  The network operators review tariff rates every financial year.  Therefore, it is recommended to review network tariff at least annually as this has proved to reduce electricity bills for some customer by thousands.

Energy Management

Many new facilities install a building management system (BMS) which automatically monitors and controls many things, such as room temperatures within set points by time, water temperatures at set points by time, light levels based on ambient light, movement and time.  Where faults are detected they can also automatically determine the problem, create maintenance jobs and schedule a contractor to attend.  Buildings that do not have a BMS can install a simpler Energy Management System (EMS), which enables circuit level and power point monitoring and control.  This can also significantly reduce electricity bills by turning equipment off when not in use, controlling set points for heating and cooling, as well as timing equipment use to lower cost charging periods - coinciding use for example, with solar generation or off-peak tariffs. Being smarter about how and when electricity is used can significantly reduce costs.

Heat and Cooling

Significant advances have been made in the energy efficiency of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems (HVAC), particularly gas and heat pump systems. Entry points and windows are typical areas of focus for reducing a building’s areas for energy loss or transfer.  Many buildings now have automatic and self-closing doors.  Windows can be double or triple glazed and thermally broken (isolated).  For a lower cost option, owners have installed window tinting. More recently, a Japanese nanotechnology has been introduced into Australia at a comparable cost to tint. This is a clear coating, painted onto glass and bonds at a molecular level.  It blocks infrared radiation and UV radiation, but is transparent and does not impact the view or the window appearance.

Lighting

An LED lighting retrofit can immediately reduce lighting costs by up to 80%.  In several states, government incentives are in place to reduce the cost.  This is a quick win for lighting cost savings, with typical payback periods ranging from 6 months to 2 years.

Smart LED lighting is new technology that has recently been introduced to Australia for commercial premises.  This brings further benefits to an LED install as light levels (lux) can be automatically varied for one, or many grouped lights, based on the environment, motion detection and time of day.  This technology also brings added benefits, for example fault detection alerts and reports on high or low traffic areas in a facility.

Car Parking

With 2.1 million electric vehicles sold globally in 2018 the move to electric vehicles seems inevitable.  Though not quite as fast to adopt this technology in Australia, installation of charging stations is attractive to tenants and will become a necessity in the future.  Many shopping centres have already invested in this technology, offering free charging to incentivise longer time spent in the centre.

Technology already works seamlessly with charging stations, with mobile apps and car navigation systems showing drivers available spaces to top up at.  They also enable an owner to monitor the performance and use of their fleet of chargers and charge a fee for usage.  In the not too distant future, bi-directional charging stations will be rolled out, where car batteries can be utilised on site to reduce grid demand.

An energy saving measure for underground car parking areas is to install carbon monoxide detectors where ventilation systems are in use.  The detectors work to moderate the use of the ventilation fans based on CO2 levels.  Recently, a car park in Melbourne upgraded their system and reduced their energy usage by 92%.

Solar

The reduced cost of solar products and rising cost of electricity makes the business case for solar installation very appealing.  The residential space in Australia has already seem a significant uptake.  Many big businesses have signed power purchase agreements with large scale solar farms to offset their carbon footprint.  As well as generous federal incentives, there are now many installation and finance options available to further improve the business case for owners.  For example, low interest loans, rental agreements and power purchase agreements are all available.  Infrastructure can also be setup to monitor and bill tenants for their use of solar generated power.  Of course, the business case is also improving for investment in solar combined with battery technology to further remove dependency on the grid.

Conclusion

With uncertainty over grid supply, all of these solutions should be considered in parallel and delivered through a comprehensive implementation strategy.  Empower are an independent energy consultancy, who specialise in assisting Australian businesses to tailor an energy strategy that utilises buying power to keep costs low and make investment decisions that reduce risk and provide optimal returns.

The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) conducts a compliance check annually to ensure that distributors comply with the distribution determination price controls and that the total revenue recovered from consumers is no more than required for a safe and reliable electricity supply. As a process, AER requires distributors to submit a pricing proposal each year for the next regulatory year. Distributors provide detailed information on network tariffs along with the eligibility criteria with respect to each network tariff.

We, at Empower, have performed a detailed analysis on network costs AER approved for distributors in Victoria which was effective from 1 January 2021. The new distribution charges will be valid for 6 months until 30 June 2020, as AER changes for the first time to review Victorian distributor rates on 1 July each financial year in line with other AER states.

The following table presents the average network price changes for various tariffs under respective distributors*.

The precautionary measures of closing down non-essential services in Australia has placed a lot of business owners under financial duress.

While businesses may not be operating, it is important to ensure that energy usage on site is minimised as much as possible to reduce unnecessary costs.   

The best thing you can do for your business if it is closed right now is to 'power down' by switching the power supply OFF at the mains, it might seem like a 'no-brainer' solution but it is something that can be overlooked. 

As it may not be viable for many businesses to completely 'power down', we have listed below some recommendations to help minimise the usage of equipment that does need to stay on:

COMMON EQUIPMENT TYPES:

• Ensure your A/C timers are switched OFF. For HVAC systems you may need to change the settings/timers, larger systems often have a "holiday mode" where they are largely OFF but will still turn ON to avoid more extreme temperatures and conditions. Consult with your HVAC maintenance provider if you are unsure of the optimal system settings for your situation.
• Computer server room A/C units should be left ON unless the server equipment is being shutdown.
• Switch OFF any non-essential lighting.
• Switch OFF all equipment at the power source including:
  • Computers, monitors, POS, printers, scanners, copiers and modems.
  • Kitchen equipment - Coffee machine, microwave, kettle, sandwich maker, dishwasher.
  • Refrigeration (only if there is non-essential food items that can be removed).
  • Electric hand dryers.
  • Televisions and projector screens.
  • Hot water system

The Australian solar industry are warning that a shortage in solar panel supply due to COVID-19 is expected to result in significantly higher prices for solar installations in the very near future.

How is Coronavirus affecting manufacturing?

According to PV Magazine Australia, solar prices are expected to rise with the cost of PV modules increasing, all as a result of the virus outbreak. This is due to a shortage in module glass and wafers needed to create these systems, and the drop in the Australian Dollar.

Our Solar suppliers are advising to get installations done now, before the shortfall of panels impacts prices.

Contact us if you are interested in installing energy products so that we can help you secure pricing.

Parts of VIC, NSW and SA were recently hit by an intense dust storm.  We found first hand that dusty panels generate less than half the normal solar output for a system mounted on a relatively flat roof in Victoria. 

As if that wasn’t bad enough, Canberra and parts of Melbourne were later hit by a hail storm, where hailstones bigger than golf balls smashed car windows and sky lights. While solar panels are designed to withstand hail, they can be damaged once hailstones become the size of golf balls. Thankfully many home and business insurance policies do cover this type of damage.

Now is a good time to check your solar system’s output. This can be done by checking the digital display on your inverter, logging into the manufacturers web portal or requesting a report from your solar provider.   Although output various depending on panel orientation, shading  and other factors, as a rule of thumb, in the middle of a bright sunny day - a 10kW system should generate at least 8kW or 8000W on the inverter’s digital display or at least 2kWh or 2000Wh for a 15 minute interval on the web portal graph or report. A 20kW system will generate twice these numbers and a 5kW system half.

If you suspect your system is working poorly due to dust you can either:

• Wait for the next heavy rainfall (assuming that is not too far away) and check output again.
• If you can safely access the panels, wash them with a hose. Do not use a pressure washer as this can cause damage.

Have the panels cleaned by a professional cleaning company.

Well over two million homes in Australia have invested in Solar PV, with generous feed-in incentives, the return on investment has clearly stacked up.

Australian businesses are now seeing Solar PV as a sensible investment because:

• Sky rocketing energy costs are unsustainable, volatile and the future is uncertain 
• There has been a plunge in solar manufacturing costs 
• There is a competitive solar finance market, with attractive options for both the building owner and the tenant. 
• Solar power is generated during daytime operating hours,which is high demand period for most businesses.

If you are interested in investigating whether solar can be financially viable for your business, click on the button below and provide us with a few details for a Free assessment: 

The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) conducts a compliance check annually to ensure that distributors comply with the distribution determination price controls and that the total revenue recovered from consumers is no more than required for a safe and reliable electricity supply.

We, at Empower, have performed a detailed analysis on network costs AER approved for distributors in Victoria which was from effective 1 January 2019. The following table presents the average network price changes for various tariffs under respective distributors.

If you've had issues with billing in the past, you would know that it can take considerable effort and money to resolve a dispute with an energy provider.  Empower can save you that time and money by advocating the case on your behalf.  We have the market knowledge and contact network to help you resolve your issues efficiently and achieve the best possible outcome.