Cold chain firm saves cash on electricity

Norish has been able to generate £180,000 over the past decade by optimising the flexibility within its consumption profile. It has 60,000 pallet storage spaces across the country and consumes an average of 21 gigawatts of electricity per year. 

Flexitricity’s role is to identify flexibility at customer sites and sell energy to the National Grid when it needs it and it can be borne by the business. The demand response pioneer operates a 24/7 control room from their Edinburgh office, allowing them to optimise value through continuous analysis fed by up-to-the-second measurement the energy markets and each site’s capabilities and needs.

At times of high national electricity demand, or if a major power station fails, Flexitricity turns down Norish’s cooling plant for short periods to reduce the stress on the electricity network. 

Critical temperatures are monitored to ensure the integrity of the stored product. This allows Norish to earn extra revenue without disrupting its normal business operations.

There has also been a significant environmental impact. Every megawatt of capacity connected to Flexitricity is a megawatt that does not have to be held in reserve elsewhere. This reduces the need to keep coal and oil stations on hot standby or running inefficiently at part load – reducing emissions by between 300 to 750 tonnes of CO2 per megawatt per annum.

Stuart Lloyd, chief engineer at Norish Cold Storage, said: “Our energy costs have nearly doubled over the last ten years, so it has been imperative for us to look at every and any method of reducing our energy consumption. Having access to the demand response market has been truly transformational for us. We are also now exploring new on-site generation and storage opportunities including lithium ion batteries, onsite turbines and solar panels as we respond to the growing demand for flexible energy generation.”