In every business driving energy efficiency is a team effort and no business knows the importance of teamwork better than Croke Park. It’s why Ireland’s best known sports stadium has teamed up with Bord Gáis Energy to optimise energy usage - a goal it is already achieving.
Bord Gáis Energy has been part of Centrica, a global energy and services leader, since 2014. This has allowed Bord Gáis Energy to partner with Centrica Business Solutions, in providing a new and comprehensive suite of next-generation energy solutions for Irish businesses.
It has already proven a winning combination at Croke Park, one of Europe’s largest stadia. Best known as the home of the GAA and venue for All-Ireland finals and major concerts throughout the year, the stadium is also one of Ireland’s leading conference venues, with over 5,000 sq m of flexible space that is in use year-round even when the main stadium is not.
All of this activity makes Croke Park a big consumer of energy, which is why management were keen to boost energy efficiency, reduce energy costs and make the stadium more environmentally sustainable.
Bord Gáís Energy, as the official energy partner of Croke Park, has been working with the stadium to help it better understand its energy usage, providing it with a more accurate view of energy use throughout the complex.
One of the ways it is doing this is by introducing Panoramic Power into the stadium, a new offering from Bord Gáis Energy through their partner Centrica Business Solutions.
Panoramic Power provides businesses with real-time visibility of energy activity, allowing Croke Park to map energy usage patterns and identify opportunities for efficiencies and savings.
The Panoramic Power system uses self-powered, wireless sensors to transmit data from all energy-using devices in real-time to a cloud-based analytics platform, PowerRadar. The intelligence driven by this data helps businesses optimise performance, deal with potential equipment failures proactively, and reduce energy inefficiencies and waste.
For example, in Croke Park, Panoramic Power sensors were placed in the busiest sections of the Hogan conferencing areas. These sensors covered the lighting in the conference space and the food preparation areas, along with the general heating and cooling systems.
"Although the trial is in its early stages, we have already identified high end users throughout the premises on match and event days. We hope to add additional sensors to some of the more heavy-duty equipment in the coming weeks and feel that this will have a huge positive impact on performance efficiencies and predictive maintenance," says Peter McKenna, stadium director.
Bord Gáis Energy has installed Panoramic Power at global nutrition group Glanbia too. "Bord Gáis Energy worked with us to install Panoramic Power at one of our Kilkenny sites in March of this year, and already we have identified areas around the site where we can take action to reduce our energy usage. The live reporting and alerts available from the system, allows greater insight into our business energy usage," says Glanbia procurement manager Paul Grant.
The insights Centrica Business Solutions has brought to the Irish market, since its introduction here earlier this year, are already significant.
The feedback from those currently using the solutions has been extremely positive
"Bord Gáis Energy can now offer an unrivalled suite of end-to-end energy management solutions that will help businesses to remain in control of their energy and turn their energy footprint into a source of competitive advantage," says Deirdre Threadgold, industrial and commercial energy services manager at Bord Gáis Energy.
“The feedback from those currently using the solutions has been extremely positive with reports of improvements in energy consumption and significant cost reductions.”
It’s part of Bord Gáis Energy’s commitment to providing solutions that empower its business customers to take control of their energy usage. With energy prices rising, that’s a compelling proposition.
Bord Gáis Energy’s customer research shows a clear appetite too, with a survey showing 55 per cent of respondents would consider reducing energy usage to save money in 2017. Yet despite this, only 31 per cent did so. By partnering with companies to make such savings possible, Bord Gáis Energy is making it easier for Irish businesses to achieve their goals.
It has solutions to suit businesses of all kinds too, from a retail outlet with one refrigeration unit to a hotel looking to install a combined heat and power (CHP) unit to produce heat and electrical power from gas simultaneously.
“Through Centrica Business Solutions we have insight into how customers are using their energy, to build a programme to help them optimise energy usage,” says Threadgold, who says Panoramic Power is currently delivering energy savings of between 5 per cent and 10 per cent to customers, while CHP delivers savings of up to 40 per cent to those companies that also have a need for heat.
Through partnering with our customers we are giving them the ability to get control of energy efficiencies
“We had one hotel client that saved €40,000 a year in this way, but energy is a top three overhead for many companies. For Bord Gáis Energy, it’s about letting our customers benefit from the new technology that is out there,” she says. “CHP is a cost effective tool for improving cost and environmental performance, while improving long-term energy.”
Its research shows that a CHP unit will typically pay for itself within five years, with Bord Gáis Energy aligning its gas contracts over five years to match installation, and full finance available. “What it also does is provide customers with an ability to forecast costs.”
This is significant given the rising wholesale market of gas and electricity. “Through partnering with our customers we are giving them the ability to get control of energy efficiencies and use them to drive competitive advantage,” she says.
Visit www.centricabusinesssolutions.ie to find out about the products and services Bord Gáis Energy provides.