The power grid is fundamental to modern society - it provides electricity to power homes, businesses, industries, and other essential services such as health and IT. However, a range of factors can impact the grid’s reliability. When it fails, both businesses and individuals experience significant disruptions and potential financial losses. To overcome this power gap and ensure uninterrupted operations, it is crucial to partner with a reliable power solutions provider.
The period between the start of a project and the connection to the utility power grid is called the utility gap. During this gap, there is no access to reliable and consistent power from the grid, which can significantly impact your project’s progress and completion.
CAPACITY ISSUES
When you cannot predict how much electricity you need at any given time, the utility may not have enough capacity to meet your demand. This leads to potential power outages, brownouts, and issues with grid reliability.
UTILITY PLANNING
Without strategic planning and forecasting, the utility may not invest enough in upgrading and maintaining the infrastructure to meet growing demands for electricity. This leads to an aging grid that is vulnerable to breakdowns and failures – resulting in unnecessary costs and inefficiencies.
INCREASED DEMAND
As populations grow, the demand for electricity increases. This pressures the utility grid to keep up, leading to power outages and brownouts during peak usage periods. This was exacerbated by COVID-19 and the shift from in-office to home-office environments.
WEATHER
Extreme weather, such as hurricanes and tornadoes, can damage power lines, transformers, and other grid infrastructures, leading to power outages. This damage often takes several days or weeks to repair.
SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES
As with many industries, supply chain issues impacted the manufacturing and delivery of critical components for grid operation and maintenance, such as semiconductor chips. In addition, this has affected the power grid since transformers, substations, and even power generation equipment are scarce.
RENEWABLE SUPPORT
Though renewable energy positively impacts grid reliability, it also presents challenges. Renewable energy is often intermittent, meaning its output varies depending on uncontrollable factors, such as weather conditions. This variability makes it challenging for grid operators to maintain a consistent electricity supply, leading to reliability issues.
In recent years, states around the country are facing utility connection delays that range from a couple of months to several years. Data center projects require continuous power to run, resulting in significant power requirements. Temporary power solutions can provide a reliable source of electricity while businesses and individuals wait for the grid to be restored or while waiting for a permanent connection to the grid.
Temporary power solutions offer critical advantages and benefits as a power source for operations while organizations wait to connect to the utility. Temporary power sources, such as turbine and reciprocating generators, provide fuel efficiency, quick mobilization, and uninterrupted, reliable power.
Reciprocating engine generators are reliable and versatile temporary power solutions with robust power generation, portability, fuel availability, durability, and reliability. They deliver high-power output and are easily transported to locations. Today, natural gas fuel is widely available through compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG) which translates to more fuel-efficient solutions, reducing operational costs. With their high reliability and safety features, diesel generators provide uninterrupted power efficiently.
Gas turbines provide a reliable and efficient power source, particularly for large-scale applications and industrial settings. They can deliver high power output and have excellent load-following capabilities, allowing them to respond quickly to changing power demands while offering fuel efficiency and lower emissions compared to other power generation technologies. Gas turbines are designed for larger-scale power generation and have outputs ranging from a few MW to hundreds. They are best for grid-scale power generation or large-scale temporary power needs.
Assess Power Need
Certain locations and projects make accessing a local utility entity nearly impossible. In these cases, alternative solutions can act as a total solution themselves. Regardless, if you need a backup solution or temporary power solution to fill the utility gap, you will need to assess the power required to run your operation. DPS can work with you to help you determine this need.
Financial Feasibility
A feasibility study is needed to analyze the critical aspects of a project to determine the likelihood of its success, which requires a team who is familiar with the process. DPS has the expertise and is well-versed in assisting companies with conducting feasibility studies to determine the risks and returns of pursuing a plan of action.
Federal/Municipal Regulations
While the specific regulations can vary based on industry, location, and jurisdiction, there are some key regulatory aspects that a temporary power solutions partner must be able to work through to ensure the project is compliant.
Engineered solutions
Due to the unique and complex nature of data centers, choosing a power solutions partner that offers turnkey engineered solutions is crucial. DPS can provide customization to meet the specific power requirements based on a project’s scope, meet compliance and industry standards, integrate with existing infrastructure, allow for scalability, and provide expertise and 24/7/365 support services.
Approvals and Execution
Once the steps above have been compiled, presented, and reviewed, you can secure your partnership with a temporary power solutions company and begin to execute the project.
Choosing the right temporary power solutions partner is critical for a successful project. Distributed Power Solutions (DPS) is a trusted provider of temporary power solutions in North America, offering flexible and scalable options to meet diverse organizational requirements. With expertise in the field, DPS ensures a quick deployment of temporary power systems, enabling prompt response and setup in construction sites, remote locations, events, or emergency and disaster recovery situations. DPS prioritizes reliable power supply, employing backup systems that deliver consistent and uninterrupted power. DPS also offers product support services, including design, engineering installation, and operation, to help solve your power needs.
