Energy Audits

Energy Efficiency and Productivity Audits are an important part of an organisation’s focus to minimise their energy overheads. An effective commercial or industry energy audit forms part of a comprehensive energy management programme that can lead to significant cost savings

Energy Audits examine an organisation's past and current energy use with the aim of identifying and quantifying areas where a reduction in grid electricity consumption can lead to substantial cost savings. Action Energy Australia carries out Energy Audits in line with the new Australian Standards AS/NZS 3598.2:2014  Energy audits - Industrial and related activities and AS/NZS 3598.1:2014  Energy audits - Commercial buildings. These energy audits can be performed at 3 levels of complexity, depending on business needs and operations. The outcomes of a Type 2 (Level 2) industry energy audit for example include:

  • Detailed analysis of energy performance to quantify the full range of opportunities.
  • Comprehensive review and analysis of equipment, systems, and operational characteristics of the whole site to enable quantified energy savings recommendations.
  • Financial analysis of recommended energy performance improvement actions based on agreed financial criteria to rank opportunities.
  • On-site measurements and data collection within the manufacturing complex.
  • Identification of Opportunities requiring further Type 3 (Level 3) audit investigation.
  • Calculation of energy savings reconciling against the end-use breakdown and considering daily energy consumption profiles. Costs of implementation to be based on a build-up of both capital and labor items including site internal and project management costs. Provision of a costs and benefits to a medium level of accuracy, 
 

 Contact Action Energy Australia to find out if an energy audit can help your business.

 
Audit Types Available
Type 1 (Level 1) Energy Audit

An overview of energy use and comparison with accepted benchmarks, usually requires at least one site visit.

Type 2 (Level 2) Energy Audit

A more detailed on site investigation required producing assessment of costs and savings identified through some measurement and energy monitoring.

Type 3 (Level 3) Energy Audit

A more focussed and detailed on site investigation required producing accurate assessment of costs and savings identified through extensive measuring and energy monitoring. It can be site or process specific and may involve energy simulation modelling.

 

PV Solar (Immediate and Long Term Impact ROI: 22% to 50%)

Optimal design and scoping of a grid tied PV system to suit a companies electricity load profile is essential for maximising return on investment. Owning and generating electricity using guaranteed Tier 1 efficient components will displace electricity charges and have a significant long term impact on reducing grid usage and the associated retail usage and network electricity charges. PV Solar is an investment in your companies future.
-Does your business have large roof space?
-Do you operate extensively during the day?

Sub-reduce the capital cost of the solar investment with RET.   Large government STCs rebates are still available.

Energy Efficient Lighting (Immediate and Medium term Impact ROI: 30% to 35%)

Lighting represents 32% to 45% of consumption in an average commercial building. Most older buildings will benefit from a change-over to energy efficient LED lighting. Compared with traditional incandescent lighting, Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology is more efficient (consumes 75% less energy).

Hybrid Off-Grid SOLAR (Immediate and Long Term Impact ROI: 10% to 20%)

Correct design and scoping of a hybrid off grid/grid tied PV system and battery bank to suit client’s electricity usage requirements both during the day and after daylight hours. Generating electricity using guaranteed efficient PV system components will depending on the size of the system and battery bank size have the greatest short and long term impact on reducing grid usage and network electricity costs. Lithium ion battery storage technology reduces the space requirement to 1/3rd that on conventional lead AGM battery technology.  Use you stored energy for peak load shaving as well as load shifting to significantly reduce network demand tariff charges.

Motor Velocity Controllers (Immediate and Long Term Impact ROI: 10% to 30%)

Motor speed controllers (VVVF, VFD, VSD), provide direct control of the start-up speed of an electric motor whilst maintaining high levels of motor torque. The start-up speed can be controlled locally (manually), remotely or automatically using internal or external controls. The optimum speed for a process can be adjusted quickly and easily by an operator or process controller. Use of this technology can:

  • Provide energy savings and improved resource management on variable torque loads such as fans and pumps.
  • Reduce mechanical stress - motor and load. The rate of acceleration and deceleration allow a perfect soft start and soft stop. A controlled soft start will reduce the mechanical stress on the motor shaft and load.
  • Significantly reduce starting currents. A motor's starting current under full load will typically be below 110% FLC for a pump or fan. Compare this with 600-800% for direct-on-line (DOL) starting. Starting currents on the input (AC line) side of a variable speed drive will be even lower, usually much less than full load.
  • Reduce the demand on electrical supply infrastructure.

A reduction in starting current and the improved power factor reduces the demand on the electrical infrastructure and can reduce the costs or need to increase site capacities

Power Factor Correction Immediate and Long Term Impact 10%-30%

Energy efficiency optimisation through Power factor improvement to address electrical losses reduction and an increase network capacity of existing assets. Return on Investment can be as high as 30% in the first year. Power supply authorities apply a tariff system which imposes penalties on the drawing of energy with a monthly average power factor lower than 0.9. The contracts applied are different from state to state and can vary also according to the load profile of the customer.

Tariff Optimisation

Your energy retailer and network electricity provider have a variety of tariff pricing structures that can be applied to your electricity charges.  Action Energy has in depth knowledge and understanding of how these tariffs work across all of the states and territories in Australia.  We have found that not two business are the same and often an administrative change to a different tariff pricing structure can result in significant savings. 

Customised Solar Carports

Partnering with Schletter Australia, our carport systems are designed in such a way so that parking lots can be fully utilised for both parking and optimal energy generation. Our foundation systems provide minimal vehicle impact protection, without limiting the utilization of the parking lots. Systems are available from single car to multiple open space car park lots offering very high structural safety on almost all kinds of subsoils.