The Importance Of Power Quality

Electrical power is transported and delivered across countries and oceans to homes and businesses around the world. This electricity is used to power a wide range of equipment and devices, often without a second thought. Developed countries take for granted our capacity to plug into a reliable and safe electrical grid at any time and most people only consider how we are using electricity when something stops working.

Have you ever considered “How good is the “quality” of the power I am using to drive my electrical devices?” This is a question few business owners ask and yet it can be the key to saving you money on your energy bills, improving productivity, reducing maintenance costs and improving the lifespan of your machinery. Often, the power quality being delivered to a building can and should be optimised to deliver more reliable, consistent and safe energy.

The quality of power used in our electrical devices matters for a number of reasons. Firstly, high-quality power is more efficient. It allows the equipment to run on optimal energy consumption. This not only saves you money on your electricity bill, but it also reduces your overall energy consumption and therefore your carbon footprint. Using optimised power reduces the risk of equipment breakdown or overheating and reduces the frequency at which maintenance work will be required by minimising the ‘wear and tear’ on machinery.

Breakdowns, overheating and maintenance all costs money and smart businesses want to reduce the frequency of these events. High-quality power is about more than saving you money. It’s about making money too. Higher-quality power increases productivity for manufacturers and allows plants to maximise their distribution capacities. Ultimately, investing in the quality of your power is an investment in the quality of your business.

Poor power quality may be seen in a number of ways. Most common and easy to identify are issues with service continuity. But there are many other electrical problems which are harder to spot. If your business suffers from any of the following symptoms, there may be an issue with your Power Quality:

•  Short or extensive power interruptions
•  Noisy electrical equipment
•  Voltage sags
•  Voltage surges
•  Harmonic distortion
•  High-speed transients
•  Damage from lightening

A Power Quality Audit is designed to identify how a building or installation can optimise its power. This is usually instigated by obvious issues such as machinery breakdowns or power interruptions. A more in-depth audit will identify hidden problems and the resultant actions will, over time, make a significant difference to a company’s energy consumption and energy bills.

Audits often include the installation of a meter which will constantly provide accurate measurements of the Power Quality. This allows energy experts to continue to improve and optimise the Power Quality of installation over time. As businesses expand and equipment is changed or upgraded, so too should the systems in place be designed to optimise the Power Quality.

We recommend periodical Power Quality Audits for any businesses not only seeking to make their energy power more reliable but also those seeking to make their energy usage more efficient. Quality Energy has completed Power Quality Audits on a wide range of businesses including industrial sites, commercial sites, mining sites, shopping centres, construction projects, government buildings and oil platforms and drilling rigs around the world.

Check out some of our case studies to see how a Quality Energy Power Quality Audit will benefit your business.

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