The second challenge of the Energy Transition

A second challenge organizations will face during the Energy Transition will be to electrify cost effectively. As it stands, electricity will power our future. It can be used for transportation, heating and the production of goods. Unfortunately it is expensive when compared Joule to Joule to Natural Gas. Electric appliances have greater efficiency than gas fueled counterparts but the efficiency difference does not always make up for the cost difference. Electrification must consider equipment selection, maintenance cost synergies and energy efficiency opportunities to be economic.

An energy company came to us support them in identifying opportunities that would reduce their energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions for their future processing facility. Their initial facility design proposed nearly all plant equipment to be driven by natural gas fueled internal combustion engines. At face value, electrification made no sense as the cost of electricity would far outweigh the cost natural gas over the lifecycle of the plant. However, electric drivers can have far lower operating costs, lower upfront capital costs and increased runtime in comparison to natural gas driven counterparts. Our energy audit of their design identified an economic opportunity to convert two 600 horsepower engines to electric drives. The economics were driven by the improved runtime (+120 hours per year), decreased capital costs (<30%) and reduced maintenance expenses ($42,000) made up for the higher cost of electricity.

The project reduced the facility’s emissions by 7000 tonnes of CO2 per year.