Integrated Energy Management Comes To The Design Museum

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• Integrated Energy Management Comes To The Design Museum

04 March 2020

The Design Museum has chosen VIRTUE to help it maximise energy efficiencies and decrease electricity costs at its refurbished Kensington venue.

The museum, which is renowned for promoting innovation and working with emerging technologies, chose the energy storage solution, developed by UK manufacturer Powerstar. VIRTUE will sit at the heart of the museum’s energy strategy enabling it to become one of the first in the sector to adopt demand side response (DSR) as a cornerstone of its energy management programme.

VIRTUE is an integrated energy management and microgrid solution that works by capturing the electricity produced by the 100% renewable energy sources the museum already uses and storing it for discharge when required.

The museum has experienced significant increases in electricity costs since its 2016 reopening, with average monthly costs rising by almost 30%, leading to annual increases in energy costs of £65,928.

“Installing a system that sits at the heart of the Design Museum’s energy strategy required a supplier who understood and embraced our goals. The Powerstar VIRTUE solution enables the museum to regain control of both our consumption profile and spiralling costs.”

–Brian Reeves

Head of Facilities, Design Museum

Stored energy at peak times

The system will enable the museum to use stored energy at peak times, in turn, delivering significant energy cost savings as well as partaking in grid balancing contracts to provide flexibility to the grid - and seeking financial benefit by doing so. The savings generated by the battery energy storage solution is set to be 7% of the annual electricity spend. When considering the complete project with integrated voltage regulation technology and revenues from Grid contracts, this rises to 21%.

Energy optimisation

In addition, thanks to Powerstar’s new Energy Optimisation System (EOS), the Design Museum will benefit from a real-time predictive smart energy algorithm and controller to optimise the site’s energy flow and usage, which will help decrease electrical consumption by an estimated 8.5% and reduce the site’s CO2 emissions. 

Minimising electricity costs

Solon Mardapittas, Chief Technical Officer at Powerstar, said: “The installation of Powerstar VIRTUE in the Design Museum is both practical and innovative. The features of Powerstar VIRTUE allow the museum to minimise electricity costs whilst maximising sustainability, which is at the heart of their business. 

“The system’s interactive display, which provides visual insights into everything from energy usage to maintenance activities, electricity consumption, savings achieved and even charge and discharge cycles, will add to the array of fascinating displays already on show at the museum.”

Picture: Powerstar VIRTUE is helping the Design Museum maximise energy efficiencies.

Article written by Brian Shillibeer | Published 04 March 2020

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