Before the winter of 2022, the energy supply in Germany was on the brink for the first time. The German government prepared industry and the population for possible gas and electricity shortages, and calls to save energy were made as early as the summer. Production companies were unsettled. Would they continue to be supplied? What would happen if production came to a standstill? Countless companies rented emergency power just in case.

One example of a successful emergency power rental project is provided by a European company with over 50,000 employees worldwide. Four different preliminary and end products in the consumer goods sector are manufactured at the site in northern Bavaria. It is connected to a large logistics center from which the DACH region and Eastern Europe are supplied. The production process is energy-intensive, and nothing runs without electricity in logistics either. The top priority is to ensure that the electricity flows reliably, even in the event of a blackout.

A power failure would bring both production and logistics, most of which is fully automated, to a standstill. This would result in production downtime costs and loss of sales. The company turned to Bredenoord last fall to secure ongoing operations with a rental emergency power system. The advantage of a rental project is that the power supply can be secured temporarily without having to deal with the emergency power system independently and generate long-term costs. "The challenge was the high required capacity of 6 megavolt amperes (MVA) and the conversion to 20 kilovolts medium voltage. Bredenoord was able to provide this capacity from its large pool of gensets so that the customer's production was reliably secured," states Alexander Fellner, Area Manager Northern Bavaria at Bredenoord.

Custom-fit emergency power supply with all accessories

The emergency power system was installed in November. Bredenoord supplied six 1,000 kilovolt ampere container generators with an output voltage of 400 volts. Three transformers were used to convert the output voltage to 20 kilovolts medium voltage. Seven tanks of 5,500 liters each were supplied to ensure a smooth power supply - even in the event of a longer outage. A switching container was used to interconnect all the units and supply them via a feed-in point. In the event of a blackout, all six machines would initially be started at full power and synchronized. Full power at the beginning is necessary for the peak loads that occur when the engines are started and production begins. As soon as production is running smoothly, individual units can be switched off again. The production process would then run completely and at optimum efficiency via the emergency power supply system.

Regular test runs included

The system was installed in the company parking lot. Sufficient space was available there. The electricity reaches the production hall via the feed-in point. As with all Bredenoord projects, the machines passed through the so-called "greening line" before delivery. Here they are serviced and cleaned by Bredenoord technicians and made ready for use by means of a comprehensive final test. The customer starts the system once a week to ensure that everything is still in working order in the event of an emergency. These short test runs are included in the rental price. The project runs for an indefinite period. After 500 operating hours or once a year, the equipment is serviced again by Bredenoord.

"Fortunately, we didn't have a power cut this winter. But it was a good feeling to be covered just in case. After all, the damage caused by a loss of production and logistics is significantly higher than the rental costs of an emergency power system - especially as we have an expert in his field on board in Bredenoord. We were able to agree the rental period for an indefinite period. We will only return the equipment when we are 100 percent sure that there is no threat of a power outage."

This article appeared in issue 12/23