Oxfordshire County Council - Speedwell House

Speedwell House – powerPerfected
Speedwell house is one of the main office buildings for Oxfordshire County Council. Housing the council’s Environment and Economy department they were keen to reduce their carbon footprint, whilst simultaneously securing electricity supply, so opted to install a powerPerfector unit.

The Challenge, the solution and the savings
Like most office buildings, Speedwell house has a broad a mix of electrical loads, consisting mainly of lighting, HVAC and computers. The site’s voltage was logged over a week, and a 210kVA unit chosen as the optimum solution, allowing for eventual site expansion. Installed on the 10th march 2007 with a 9% optimisation setting, this usually yields a 14.5% reduction in energy consumption.

Topline results
We are delighted to say that in this case powerPerfector afforded Speedwell House a 17.9% reduction in kWh consumption, equivalent to £4,303 and 36tonnes CO₂ per year. The site’s energy profile was analysed over a year (so any seasonal changes in energy use can be taken into account) and the aforementioned 17.9% kWh reduction was accompanied by a 14.3% reduction in average daily maximum demand and a 27.7% reduction in average baseload. powerPerfector technology has made sure that the site operates more efficiently, benefits from improved power quality and is protected against transients (power spikes) of up to 25kV. All this was with a minimum of disruption due to a carefully planned shutdown and installation, carried out over a single weekend. With absolutely no moving parts, the powerPerfector units need no maintenance – beyond the statutory 5 year checks required of all electrical equipment.

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
Transients – very brief spikes in voltage from the grid – of up to 25,000V 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.