Royal Bank of Scotland - Lakeside Boulevard, Doncaster

RBS, Lakeside Boulevard – powerPerfected

RBS’s site at Doncaster Lakeside Boulevard is a major office and data centre. Following this successful powerPerfector installation, RBS have installed units at other similarly large sites, and are in the process of rolling out the technology to 249 branches around the country.

The challenge, the solution and the savings

This site is a large office and data centre whose load is predominantly lighting, HVAC and computers, all of which can benefit in different ways from a powerPerfector installation. The UK's power supply isn't as clean as computers would like, so our unique transient protection and harmonic suppression increased the security of supply giving 'computer safe' power to the entire site. Following our standard three step evaluation, the site required a 830kVA/1200A unit on a 8% optimisation to achieve the perfect voltage. On 18 November 2006 the unit was installed, with all electrical equipment functioning perfectly and no reported problems.

Topline results

Using half hourly data provided by RBS, in the three months following installation there was a 13.8% average reduction in kWh consumption, as shown below. By reducing RBS Lakeside Boulevard's electricity consumption, every year power stations upstream are emitting 208 fewer tonnes of CO₂ and RBS saves £41,975. Other effects of the powerPerfector include a reduction in baseload (overnight) consumption of 15.9% and their average maximum demand has also dropped, by 10.2%. powerPerfector technology has made sure that the site now operates more efficiently, benefits from improved power quality and is protected against comments transients (voltage spikes). There were no reported problems when the supply was reconnected and, with absolutely no moving parts, the powerPerfector needs no maintenance beyond the statutory 5 yearly checks required of all electrical equipment.

Figure 3

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 as 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 0.95. 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. With the energy gap looming – and more transients – you need to protect your electronic infra-structure.