The Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office – ‘the FCO’ or ‘the Foreign Office’ for short – is the government department responsible for promoting British interests overseas and supporting our citizens and businesses around the globe. The FCO and its worldwide network of embassies and consulates is a unique national asset.

The challenge, the solution and the savings
The assessment of Old Admiralty Building used the annual electricity consumption details to establish a provisional quote for a powerPerfector unit and the energy savings that would be expected. After a survey of the site by a powerPerfector approved contractor, the installation of Two 150 kVA units and two 280 kVA units took place. The installation was completed at a time when there would be no disturbance to the building. There was no noticeable change to the operation of the building with continuous carbon savings instantly being made every day.

The project was managed in partnership with Interserve, the facility manager for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, whose  professionalism is appreciated.

Topline results
Four powerPerfector units were installed at the Old Admiralty Building, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, on 19th June 2010: Two 150 kVA units with a 9% optimisation on Blocks A and C; and two 280 kVA units with a 9% optimisation on Blocks B and D.

Analysis of the combined half-hourly kWh consumption data for the site, shows that the electricity consumption at the Old Admiralty Building has been 11.3% lower since the installation of the powerPerfector units. This equates to an annual carbon dioxide emissions saving of approximately 193.3 tonnes and an annual financial saving of £32,900.

Voltage Power Optimisation. The less obvious benefits

Reduced maintenance, longer life
All electrical equipment has an optimum voltage at which it works best. A powerPerfected supply delivers that optimum and reduces the strain on your electrical equipment, leaving it to work more reliably and for longer.

Better quality power supply
Some things you may have accepted for years, but product faults can turn out to be caused by a poor quality power supply. For instance, the life of incandescent light bulbs is almost doubled when the supply voltage is optimised. Now imagine that in relation to an IT network or an expensive piece of manufacturing equipment.

Missing the penalty kick
Power factor penalty charges – which are now uncapped in the UK – can be avoided if your power factor is above .95. If your power factor is at around 0.9 at the moment, powerPerfector could remove your exposure to these charges by improving the electrical efficiency of your site.

Lower harmonic distortion and reduced neutral currents
powerPerfectors are able to filter harmonics on the mains incomer. Harmonic distortion is on the increase and can lead to random failures of electronic equipment – particularly computers.

Protection
Common transients – very brief spikes in voltage from the grid – are eliminated by powerPerfector. Transients at this level can cause catastrophic damage to equipment, but smaller, more common transient events will also shorten the life expectancy of electrical equipment over time.