Addressing energy volatility with an innovative power management approach

Author: Schneider Electric

In the fall of 2022, Europe was bracing for a difficult winter in the face of skyrocketing energy prices primarily caused by geopolitical events. A mild winter helped ease the pain and European countries are in a better position as another winter approaches, but energy volatility remains a serious concern. This volatility and the need to decarbonize are among the most pressing issues we face today.

As the world becomes more digitized, issues such as energy security, efficient use of resources, and sustainability have become top priorities for commercial and industrial organizations. Almost every industry, from healthcare to retail to logistics to manufacturing, struggles with balancing the increasing demand for power and the real need to decarbonize. As a result, many of these companies are turning to an innovative power management approach to minimize downtime and improve energy efficiency.

Top challenges for commercial and industrial organizations

These are big challenges, and a lot is riding on them. Climate change is fueling extreme weather events, and globally we have just experienced the hottest summer on record. Severe weather can cause power outages. Every time an outage occurs at a data center, be it a large multitenant facility or a wire closet at a midsize business, it increases the potential for data loss or equipment damage – unless organizations have sound energy management policies in place.

Another issue affecting energy management is energy supply volatility. As companies become more dependent on artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and automation to compete in their markets, they need access to affordable, high-quality energy supplies. Events such as the war in Ukraine, recent supply chain disruptions, and the global drive toward alternative fuels have instigated energy volatility, creating unexpected spikes in energy costs, and forcing governments to reform markets.

The timing couldn’t be worse. As industries automate and electrify, they need 24/7 availability and reliability. Organizations need guarantees of high-quality power, avoiding brownouts, surges, and mini-cuts that can damage sensitive equipment and put the value realized with digitization at risk. Companies are running mission-critical applications across distributed environments that include traditional data centers, cloud, and edge computing sites. Any interruption can translate to millions of dollars in lost productivity. In sectors, such as healthcare, avoiding downtime is crucial as it poses potential life-and-death risks.

Earlier this year, I spoke about these trends at Hannover Messe. In this video, I discussed the need for companies to strategize, digitize, and decarbonize. Strategizing involves identifying a problem and a solution. Decarbonizing calls for deploying solutions that advance a company’s carbon-reduction efforts.

The digitization piece includes implementing a secure power infrastructure that enables organizations to operate with as much autonomy as possible to avoid interruptions to mission-critical applications. This would give them the quality of power required by IT/OT converged applications. All of this is possible with a well-defined power management approach to support operational resiliency.

A new approach to industrial power management

Schneider Electric offers commercial and industrial organizations several uninterruptible power supply solutions and services that help drive efficiency, manage volatility, and strive toward sustainability while keeping costs down. For instance, the recently introduced Easy UPS 3-Phase Modular series lets companies control capital expenses through a pay-as-you-grow approach. With modular UPSs, companies expand their UPS capacity as demand grows, eliminating the need to overprovision.

The Easy UPS 3-Phase Modular solution is especially suited to commercial and industrial environments experiencing fast growth due to automation, electrification, and IT/OT convergence. It is easy to install and maintain and has remote management capabilities.

The units have a smaller footprint than most legacy solutions and, because they are modular, require no extra space to add capacity. This contributes to sustainability efforts by helping to keep the carbon footprint down. The Easy UPS 3-Phase Modular solution also has built-in N+1 redundancy, adding resilience to IT environments when 24/7 reliability is crucial.

Commercial and industrial organizations need practical solutions to manage energy volatility while also making progress on their sustainability goals. Learn how Schneider Electric can help you manage energy volatility and help decarbonize with the Easy UPS 3-Phase Modular solution.

Tags: Easy UPS 3-Phase Modular, Edge Computing, Energy Efficiency, industrial UPS