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Increasingly stricter laws and regulations and rising energy prices, require organisations to continuously improve their sustainability. This brings challenges; how do you get the correct insight to take steps forward and achieve concrete sustainability goals?
New legislation demands sustainability
In recent years, the number of regulations for companies and institutions in the field of energy conservation, CO2 reduction and sustainable energy has increased enormously. What are the most important measures that you as an organisation must consider?
Firstly, the energy saving obligation for companies. If a company uses more than 25,000 m3 of gas or 50,000 kWh per year, it is obliged, in accordance with the Environmental Management Act, to take all energy-saving measures with a payback period of 5 years or less. As of January 1, 2018, energy monitoring and registration is one of these mandatory measures for many sectors. This obligation applies to more than 100,000 companies.
As of 2023, the Energy Saving Obligation will be further expanded. Organisations that own an office building of at least 100 m2 must have energy label C as of 1 January 2023. In 2050, all buildings must be energy neutral, following the European climate agreements. The government sees the introduction of this label obligation as an important step towards reducing the CO2 footprint of offices.
And that’s not all. From 2024, the CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) will require thousands of companies to have a sustainability report. From 2024, a large group of companies will be required to report on the environmental and social impact of their business activities and have this information verified by an accountant.
Do you want to know more about the energy laws that your organisation must comply with? Via the Wetchecker energy saving you can easily check which legal obligations there are for your organisation or building.
Changing energy market
In addition to all the legislation and obligations, we must also deal with a rapidly changing energy market.
The demand for energy is growing explosively. Due to a strong need and necessity to become more sustainable, more and more companies are switching from gas to electricity. This need has been reinforced by the war in Ukraine. In many parts of the country, the power grid has been full for some time now and companies must wait many years for their connection to be upgraded. We call this overload of the electricity grid grid congestion. Grid operators are investing more than ever in expanding and strengthening the grid. For example, grid operator Liander, a subsidiary of Alliander, will lay and replace no fewer than 4,500 kilometers of new cables and install around 1,600 transformer houses in the regions Gelderland and North Holland. But more is needed to meet the growing energy demand.
A disadvantageous consequence of these investments in infrastructure is that electricity becomes a lot more expensive. Both privately and businesswise, more and more people are switching to the use of sustainable energy such as solar- and/or wind energy to be self-sufficient as much as possible. The Netherlands is even a leader in Europe in this; compared to other European countries, we have the most solar panels per resident. This is of course a positive thing for the climate objectives, but it does bring other challenges. The more we use sustainable energy sources, the more difficult it is to coordinate energy supply and demand.
The main disadvantage of renewable energy sources such as wind- and solar energy is the unpredictability of energy production. After all, we don’t know how strong the wind is and how long the sun shines. In addition, most of the energy is usually generated when it is not needed. Solar panels generate the most energy during the day, but often we need the most energy in the morning and evening – when we shower, wash, and cook. Demand and supply are not in balance.
The first steps towards a solution for grid congestion
Fortunately, there are plenty of options to deal with these challenges related to grid congestion. The first steps are already being taken, but we are not there yet.
Abolition of netting arrangement
The netting arrangement was created to stimulate the use of sustainable energy. Sometimes solar panels produce more electricity than you need at that moment. You supply that power back to the electricity grid. You may cross out that power (netting) against the power that you purchase from your energy company.
The government plans to phase out the netting arrangements starting 1 January 2025. Every year you are allowed to net less and you receive less money for the electricity you supply back to the grid. This makes it very attractive to make more use of your own generated solar energy. By abolishing the regulation, the government hopes that people will become more aware of when they use energy. For example, turn on your washing machine when your solar panels generate energy.
Dynamic energy tariffs
Another option to solve the grid capacity problems is to offer dynamic prices. As with the abolition of the netting arrangement, the idea behind this is that you will use energy when it is most economical. This provides cheaper electricity for the user and at the same time contributes to the balancing of the energy grid.
Providers purchase gas and electricity in advance and sell it to the user. The purchase price depends on the supply and demand in the market. Dynamic gas and electricity rates are different every day. For electricity, the rate can even change every hour. The user determines when he utilises the energy, and he can save costs by using energy as much as possible at the most economical times of the day. This market force ensures that the challenges faced by energy providers are partly financed by consumers.
Dynamic energy tariffs should already be the norm. This creates a clear incentive not to use electricity during peak times. If dynamic tariffs do not become the standard, there will always remain an overload on the energy grid.
Use locally stored energy
Another solution to ensure a better balance in the energy grid is local energy storage. An option that will become very interesting in the future, when the netting arrangement has been completely abolished and everyone can use dynamic tariffs.
For example, surpluses of energy can be (temporarily) stored in a battery. You can store energy when your generation is high and then use it when you need it. As a result, your company is less dependent on energy suppliers in the event of grid failures. And you certainly get a lower energy invoice.
For the time being, the investments for a home battery are substantial. But in business, the use of energy storage using large batteries is increasingly being used.
The route towards an optimal energy system
Given all these developments, it is more than ever necessary to have a good insight into your energy consumption. Without a clear overview of generation and consumption, it is impossible to coordinate these properly.
Energy monitoring is the basis
A first step towards more insight is the use of an energy monitoring system. Energy monitoring allows you to gain insight into the energy consumption of your building(s). Energy consumption is continuously monitored and can be compared, for example, with other locations or actual years. This makes inefficiencies in (climate) installations transparent and you can quickly identify abnormal behaviour. In addition, you instantly comply with the legal obligation.
But that is not all you need to do. Energy monitoring is just the beginning.
Energy monitoring shows that you are implementing energy-saving measures that can be earned back in five years, a legal obligation. In addition, monitoring your energy consumption provides insight into where the opportunities lie to reduce energy consumption and costs. These opportunities must then be converted into concrete actions. Use the data to take adequate measures to influence the energy consumption of your organisation and save costs.
Make smart use of energy monitoring
Due to all the changes in the energy market, energy monitoring is becoming increasingly complex, making it important for software companies to keep innovating. We believe that smart software offers the core solution. By making analyses and predictions of energy consumption and generation, weather conditions, dynamic energy rates and other environmental factors, you can optimise your energy consumption better and better.
Energy monitoring is a good start to provide insight into all data. But only when we can use smart software that analyses all data and makes smart management possible, we can accelerate the energy transition and an optimal energy system comes within reach.
