As electricity demand nationally remains flat to slightly declining companies are looking harder at the return on line investment, and how to maximise the infrastructure in place without over investing in major line structures.
Maverick Energy director Richard Upperton said thanks to smart metering technology, lines companies now had data to more closely calculate when peak loads were occurring, and were moving towards peak load charging rates.
His company specialises in installing energy systems combining conventional with latest innovative technology for specific energy needs. It’s one of four certified by the Electricity and Energy Conservation Authority to sell and install dairy heat recovery systems under the authority’s grants scheme.
“You have large dairy operations requiring power at those peak times in morning and afternoon,” he said.
“Some parts of the West Coast south of Hamilton down to National Park already have it in place.”
He believes the immediate future in dairy energy technology will focus on how to shift that peak load demand around.
“Things like thermal storage to chill milk will advance, and technology to have some equipment turn off sooner.”
He points to Maverick’s latest development, the iCycle 5000, a snap chiller to be unveiled at this year’s National Fieldays.
“This will mean the chiller will not have to run during milking, and get rid of half a dairy’s peak load with it.”
The farm dairy energy market is evolving quickly as more farmers are forced to upgrade systems to comply with new chilling regulations coming into force in 2016. It may also hasten the development of co-generation installations in dairies, where methane gas from effluent digesters is held, and used to fire electricity generators and heat water.
“The technology is there, it’s just waiting for the market to catch up.”
Technology company Bosch has teamed up with Hamilton stainless steel fabrication company Longveld to bring gas-heated hot water technology to farm dairies. The commercial continuous flow water heater can be retrofitted to farm dairy water cylinders, or installed as a portable, relocatable skid system with a horizontal tank and dump tank. The advanced technology means heating is required for less than an hour per wash for an average sized dairy.
Bay of Plenty farmer Grant Rowe was one of the first to use the system and is saving 45% off his farm heating bill.
“Staff love it, they have 600 litres of hot water ready to go in less than an hour,” he said.
“We are saving money even though we are using more hot water. We can also easily hot wash our colostrum vat during calving without worrying about running out of hot water.”
Longveld is the exclusive distributor of the system and managing director Pam Roa said the flexibility of always having hot water when needed and lower water heating costs are the key benefits. Hot water heating accounts for 24% of the average farm dairy’s power bill.
The latest in cooling technology from GEA Farm Technologies have developed the iConvertor range of snap chillers, comprising two distinct technologies. One is thermal storage capacity, ensuring reduced peak load draw during milking and the ability to utilise cheaper off-peak power.
The thermal storage systems also offer a “one system one chiller” package, doing away with conventional silo chillers, lowering overheads and maintenance costs. Such systems also offer controlled hot water production as standard.
The company’s direct online systems offer a “plug and play” installation simplicity with minimal installation that keeps existing vat chillers in service, but significantly reduces the load placed upon them.
