If you are contemplating a new onsite energy system for your business, you face a tough challenge; Finding the right suppliers for your Onsite Energy System.
Energy systems have service lives measured in decades, so choices made today have an impact for years to come. Pick the right partner and you’ll get a great system, bespoke to your needs, that brings benefits for many years to come. Make the wrong choice, and you risk paying too much, getting the wrong system, and being stuck with it for the duration of your contract.
At VECKTA we see energy users making two common mistakes:
Unclear vision: When energy users don’t know what they want or what’s possible, they can end up buying what suppliers want them to buy, rather than what they really need
Missing suppliers: The energy supply landscape is changing rapidly, and it is important to make sure the best suppliers and technologies are being considered for your project.
So how do energy users get clarity on what is available and what they can achieve with onsite energy? Asking suppliers for help should be a great place to start. Suppliers know a lot about the industry and the technologies available. But their incentives unfortunately aren’t always well aligned with energy users’ needs.
Ask a solar developer what they recommend, and you can be pretty sure the answer will include solar. Ask a control system provider, and they’ll spend a lot of time educating you on the complexities of control algorithms and grid connectivity.
Finding the right suppliers for your onsite energy system
A great place to start is someone independent, who is technology agnostic and focused solely on getting the best outcome for you, the energy user, in the most effective way.
Your independent review should account for three important factors:
- Your goals: Typically these are some combination of reliability, emissions reduction, and cost minimization – there are always some tradeoffs involved!
- Economic variables: Including utility rates, solar irradiance, wind speeds, diesel and gas prices at your location
- Technology constraints: Including your preference for/against different generation technologies, space available for energy equipment, and access to natural gas
Once your independent review is complete, you will have a good idea of the opportunity available, and the types and quantities of generation technologies needed to get there. With this information in hand, you are much better placed to approach the right suppliers and to ask them for a solution that is going to meet both your needs and theirs.
The supply market moves quickly, and the best suppliers are constantly busy. Getting access to these suppliers matters. Energy users who know what they want from onsite energy can quickly narrow their focus down to suppliers who have proven capabilities delivering on the type of energy system they need. And they sit at a higher priority because they already know what they want.
Energy users need to know who these suppliers are, and make sure they are responding to and excited by the opportunity. Missing even one or two key suppliers could result in selecting a less-than-optimal supplier. And as a result paying too much or suffering from underperformance for years to come.
At VECKTA, first and foremost, we care about accelerating the clean energy transition. That means connecting more proven project opportunities to great suppliers, so they can be financed, designed and built. We provide unique solutions to help energy users scope out their projects and access the best suppliers. And whether you choose to use our platform or go it alone, knowing what you want and finding the right suppliers for your onsite energy system is key to getting a great project built.
