Southern Africa · Commercial & Industrial ESS · 2024
BESS for Load-Shedding Resilience and Peak Shaving at a Plant
A Johannesburg-area manufacturer deployed an EcoDyny LiFePO4 battery energy storage system to keep production running through grid outages and to trim its peak demand charge. The system now covers scheduled outages without generator start-up and shaves the plant's monthly peak.
South AfricaCountry
Southern AfricaRegion
Commercial & Industrial ESSSector
2024Commissioned
Client profile
South Africa · Commercial & Industrial ESS
A manufacturing plant outside Johannesburg operating three shifts with a peak demand of about 1.8 MW and continuous process loads that cannot tolerate interruption.
Case study
The challenge
The plant faced two distinct cost problems from the same cause. Scheduled load shedding interrupted production several times a week, and the existing diesel generators carried the load at high fuel cost with a start-up sequence that took minutes, during which process lines had to be stopped and restarted, generating scrap and lost output. Separately, the plant's maximum demand charge was set by a short daily peak driven by motor starts and furnace ramp-up, and that peak recurred every billing period regardless of production volume. Reducing it would cut the monthly bill directly, but the plant could not simply shed load without affecting process quality. Battery storage was attractive on both counts, yet the operator had previously trialled a small lithium system that failed to handle the plant's inductive load characteristics and tripped under inrush from large motors. The engineering team needed a system sized for genuine industrial duty, able to run in parallel with generators rather than competing with them.
Case study
Our solution
EcoDyny supplied a containerised ED-ESS-500C system, 500 kWh of LiFePO4 capacity with a 250 kW bidirectional power conversion system, integrated with the plant's existing generator control and changeover logic. The PCS is rated for the plant's inductive load profile and includes active harmonic mitigation, addressing the tripping problem the earlier trial had exposed. Operating modes are scheduled: during planned outage windows the BESS carries critical process loads instantly, holding them while generators start and then operating in parallel to reduce fuel burn; during normal grid operation the system performs automatic peak shaving against a configurable demand setpoint, discharging during motor starts and furnace ramp-up and recharging outside peak windows. The BMS reports cell temperature, string imbalance and state of health, and the plant's maintenance team receives weekly reports and alarm notifications. Thermal management is liquid-assisted with redundant fans, sized for the highveld temperature range, and the container is rated for outdoor installation with electrical integration by EcoDyny engineers.
Case study
Results
In the first year of operation the system covered 214 scheduled outage events with uninterrupted critical process load, and generator run-hours fell 61%, cutting diesel consumption proportionally. Monthly peak demand was reduced by an average of 340 kW against the pre-installation baseline, lowering the demand charge by roughly 22% on a twelve-month average. Scrap attributable to process stop-start during outages was eliminated on the covered lines. System availability was 99.4%, with two planned maintenance interventions and no unplanned shutdowns. The plant's energy manager noted that the parallel-with-generator mode, absent on the earlier trial system, was the single feature that made the operational case work.
Metrics
Measured outcomes
-61%Generator run-hours reduction
340 kWAverage peak demand reduction
99.4%System availability
The battery does two jobs that used to conflict: it holds the process up when the grid drops, and it trims the peak that sets our demand charge. Running in parallel with the generators is what made it viable.
— Energy Manager, Johannesburg
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