Comment
Logistics – the 360 energy opportunity
Logistics is at the cutting edge of much change in society. The way we live now would not be possible without a sophisticated and efficient logistics system. The growth of online retail and ever faster delivery means the sector is at the cutting edge of the challenge to decarbonise. Accelerating deliveries and movement along with ever more storage space, means a substantial increase in energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Many in the sector are grappling with this and we’re working with our clients on new logistics developments and retrofit plans across the UK.
The logistics sector has many opportunities and challenges that others don’t; huge solar arrays are possible because of the large, unshaded roofs offering renewable generation opportunities, but there is also the challenge to integrate electric vehicle (EV) charging for large fleets and increasingly, HGVs. A HGV may soon need 500 KW so that it can charge and turnaround quickly. That single charging point is about the same draw as you would expect for a typical 20,000 sq m logistics shed and office.
When you scale this up to a logistics park, you get other issues. If each building has lots of solar on the roof and lots of EV charging, then the grid connection requirements export, and import, become much greater and more expensive.
Capacity is already a common problem for existing sites. Many of our clients are seeking to retrofit solar and EV charging, and new sites are having to consider what the right capacity is. Worse, because each building acts independently, some buildings are exporting a lot of unused energy at the same time as others are importing a lot for charging. This is not cost-effective for either, because exported electricity receives much lower value than imported energy. (The UKWA has written recently about the issues with rooftop solar.)
What if each logistics park could operate as a single energy system, sharing energy generation and demand smartly? That could mean smaller grid connections, lower energy bills and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Well, they can, but almost none are, and that is why I am writing. This 360-energy opportunity, as I term it, is one of the biggest opportunities in logistics that isn’t being grasped.
Often termed “micro-grids”, the idea is simply that a whole park engages with the grid as one system, importing and exporting electricity as needed. Within the park each building lends and borrows energy, has the potential to share EV charging in a central hub and all with a central control system managing things smartly. Further benefits come from the increased scale of the contract, and using smart management techniques, energy bills can be reduced further, and lower carbon electricity used.
So, why isn’t it happening more often?
There are many reasons, I think; it is difficult to retrofit to existing parks, new developments have a host of other challenges and this is a “nice to have”, there is even a concern that tenants may not like the idea of having a monopoly supplier. These challenges aren’t insoluble though. Consultants and independent network operators can design, optimise and manage these systems, and the whole cost model can be open-book to show the benefits to tenants. In some places there may soon be no other option. As we all integrate electric vehicle charging and solar, waiting for network upgrades may simply be untenable.
Every new development should be planned on this micro-grid model and existing parks should be planning for how to integrate it. It will make our logistics sector more competitive, lower carbon and lead the way for other sectors to follow.
If you would like to find out more about 360 energy, please contact Barny Evans.
16 January 2023
A version of this comment originally appeared on: Warehouse Magazine | Logistics – the 360 energy opportunity