Azimu general bulletin summary:
What is happening with energy prices?
Electricity and natural gas prices in Colombia grow 50% faster than other goods and services in the economy.
Shopping mall sector: Ideas to save energy in my company
In the north of the country, electricity and natural gas prices are growing at approx. 20% faster than in other regions of the country, affecting the household economy.
The country’s capital maintains the competitiveness of its companies by having energy and gas prices that grow approx. 8% slower than the country average.
- Energy efficiency, the key for commercial centers to overcome the El Niño phenomenon and save up to 30% in service costs.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) officially declared the beginning of the El Niño phenomenon, which could increase energy prices in Colombia in the second half of the year.
The concern, therefore, is even greater for shopping malls, since they are one of the most energy-intensive sectors. Different studies have even pointed out that the average annual consumption in these spaces ranges between 150 and 350 kWh per square meter and can vary depending on the season of the year, for example, at Christmas time it can be up to 20% more than the total annual consumption.
In the midst of this situation, the Gran Plaza, Oviedo, Florida, Puerta del Norte, La Strada and Viva shopping centers, among others, have achieved savings of more than 30% in consumption. This, in overall figures for the first half of the year meant about 1,250,000 kWh.
Which is equivalent to
Here are some of the strategies they have used to achieve this:
- Intelligent consumption measurement:
More than 100 real-time metering points per shopping center using IoT (internet of things) technology, specialized energy management software and data scientists, allow to understand the best operating practices, reducing energy consumption through real-time adjustments.
- Technology Substitution and Distributed Generation
Implementation of LED lighting changeover projects and optimization of their circuits through turnkey or PCA (pay-as-you-save) projects.
Technological replacement projects in refrigeration systems with savings of more than 30% in consumption and significant improvements in comfort variables. Below are some images of the project.
- Solar photovoltaic projects in shopping centers:
It is currently possible to reduce the price of energy by more than 30% by self-generating in shopping centers with a solar photovoltaic project.
The most common mechanism used to develop these projects are PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) contracts, whereby a supplier such as Azimut is in charge of financing, installing and operating the solar plant, while the customer benefits from an immediate reduction in the price of energy without the need to make investments.
Below are some of the PPA projects developed by Azimut for commercial clients:
Reactive energy
For many companies, the entry into force of Resolution CREG 015 has represented annual energy cost overruns amounting to hundreds of millions of pesos.
These cost overruns can be multiplied by as much as 12 times if not corrected in a timely manner. Fines can even exceed the actual cost paid on the utility bill.
But what is reactive power and why is its correction important?
The entry into force of CREG Resolution 015 on penalties for reactive energy surpluses may generate significant cost overruns in public utilities.
Permissible limits present at the commercial border:
- The inductive power factor allowed at the commercial boundary should be in the range of [0,90 – 0,99] p.u.
- In the event that the inductive reactive energy is greater than 50% of the imported active energy [kWh], the excess over this limit will be considered as penalized inductive reactive energy [kvarh].
- When the transport of capacitive reactive energy [kvarh] is recorded, regardless of the value of the magnitude of the imported active energy [kWh], the cost of transporting this capacitive reactive energy will be charged on the total capacitive reactive energy [kvarh] recorded.
Factor M: makes penalties more severe:
- When the transportation of reactive energy in excess of the established limit occurs during any hourly period on more than 10 days in the same calendar month, the variable M will be equal to 1 during the first 12 months in which this condition occurs. From month 13 with the same condition M will increase monthly in one (1) unit until reaching the value of 6. After a year without correction M continues to increase to 12.
- To reset the M to 1 condition, it is necessary to demonstrate for 3 consecutive months that the facility has no overruns for more than 10 days of each month.
Real-time monitoring and scheduled maintenance routines become essential to avoid unavailability of compensation systems, which can lead to fines.
Do you know what the sizing of reactive power compensation and power quality mitigation solutions depends on? Visit our blog.
