10.10.2022
Today, Estonia and all of Europe are facing a rapidly approaching energy crisis, where keywords such as rising electricity prices, the risk to energy security, and possible power outages are becoming everyday occurrences. Although several solutions have been discussed both in the media and put on the ministry’s desk, none of them offer short-term relief, apart from shifting the peak load of large consumers.
“The construction of new controllable production plants and the construction of large battery storage facilities are worthwhile ideas, but they are time- and capital-intensive processes, the results of which we will see on the electricity market only after 4 years”, says Tarvo Õng, the CEO and founder of Fusebox. “At the same time, the crisis needs to be solved immediately, because cold weather, low electricity production, and a threat from the east can throw our electricity system into chaos from day one.” In the perspective of the next few years, Õng sees the best solution as managing large-scale industrial and business consumption away from peak hours and confirms that the necessary capacity already exists in Estonia.
“The smart shift of electricity consumption from peak hours to cheaper ones provides a quick and positive solution for both consumers and the entire electricity grid in general,” says Õng. “Our 7-year experience shows that Estonian business consumers already have the necessary flexibility (approx. 150MW) to reduce the peak load of the entire country by up to 15% and this happens without harming their daily work process.” Of course, it is also necessary and meaningful that private consumers spread the possibilities within the limits of their electricity consumption, but according to Õng, a stabilization mechanism cannot be built on this in the short term, because domestic consumers only use a third of the electricity and it is difficult to schedule the majority of this consumption.
Fusebox has developed special software for managing electricity consumption and as a mechanism for balancing loads of the electricity network, which is used today by many large consumers in the Baltics and Scandinavia. The software monitors what is happening in the electricity market in real-time and, if necessary, shifts the workload of the company’s machines to hours with a better price. According to customers, the results are significant, where in addition to electricity bills that are about 20% lower than usual, direct financial income is earned for participating in the balancing market.
“Today, business customers belonging to the Fusebox portfolio make up more than 10% of Estonia’s total consumption,” said Õng. “In the last year alone, we have “shifted” our customer’s electricity consumption away from peak hours over a million times. The results show that we can react in real-time to changes in the electricity market, whether it is caused by a production deficit, price volatility, or simply the need for balancing.”
At this point, Õng recommends not to wait for guidelines and measures from the state, but to be proactive yourself. “Joining the Fusebox platform is easy and our software is free. In most cases, connecting to us only requires software setup and you can already start saving on your electricity bills. Since the demand for this kind of service is very high at the moment, I recommend that you notify us of your wish to join as early as possible.”
If you also want to get your company’s electricity consumption under control before the coming winter, then let us know by writing to info@fusebox.energy or calling our sales team at +372 534 40574
