First of all, thank you to everyone for coming today. We hope that you find the content useful.
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We will be doing a few polls during this session, so please do put in your answers when they pop up on the screen, and there will be a Q &A at the end, so please put any questions that you have into the questions box, and we'll do our best to go through as many as we can at the end of the webinar.
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Following the webinar, we'll also be sending you an aftercare email in the next couple of working days and this will contain a recording of the webinar, the copy of the slides and the contact details of today's presenters.
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So without any further ado, I'll hand you over to our printers for today, Jed and Gareth.
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Thank you very much and good morning, everyone. Thanks. Welcome to the webinar today.
0:51
I'm Gareth Ball, head of sales and marketing here at NLX, and I'm pleased to say that I'm joined by my colleague Jed Ward, who is our BDM and sector specialist for the food and beverage industry.
1:03
For those of you that don't know who we are, NLX are the largest provider of energy flexibility services across the globe, and we're proud members of the Food and Drink Federation.
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We continue to work with members today, helping them unlock new revenue streams, reduce your costs and help them become a lot more energy resilient than they once were.
1:24
And hopefully today we'll highlight that getting started in this area is a lot easier than you might think.
1:31
Before we dive in though we do need to acknowledge that the energy flexibility space is an extremely broad one and giving us like 25 minutes to do a deep dive is a challenge in itself.
1:41
So if anyone would like to get in touch and organize a call for someone on one time be happy to do so. Yeah thanks Gareth and good morning everybody.
1:53
For food and bed manufacturers like a lot of you on the webinar today flexibility and demand response I think particularly in the current economic climate I certainly believe are potential game changers and why is that?
2:07
Here you ask well I think they allow you to reduce costs earn new income and boost energy and site resilience all using assets that you already have and we'll show you how it works in practice.
2:18
We'll share a couple of real world examples from your sector and we'll take you through just how simple the process is with with NLX. Thank you, Jen.
2:33
The slide in front of you is an image that you're likely quite familiar with.
2:38
It's the energy trilemma and it can really help set the scene for today's call.
2:42
Now the energy trilemma is really the challenge of today's energy landscape as we know it.
2:47
And it's this challenge of balancing affordability, sustainability, and the security of energy supply.
2:54
Now, when we talk about energy costs, which we know are of a major concern to every major energy user in the UK, the volatility that drives those costs are really kind of three key areas or driven by three key areas.
3:07
It's political and economic shifts, change in regulations, and generally the general drive towards net zero.
3:14
And it's no real surprise that businesses are feeling the pressure today.
3:18
A recent PwC study found that over 51 percent of large energy users across the UK cite rising energy costs as a threat to their long-term longevity in the country.
3:30
So this is a very prevalent challenge and issue.
3:34
Now, at NLX, our goal is pretty simple.
3:36
It's to help each client find their own balance across these priorities and look for them to help them rather reduce their energy costs, help them to look ways to cut carbon and also strengthening their resilience and energy security by doing so.
3:53
And we do find that these three areas are really deeply connected and progressing one more often than not affects the others in positive way.
4:03
So this is where flexibility really becomes critical and NISO's Clean Power 2030 plan which was recently released, makes this really clear that flexibility is really the key in turning the UK's energy transition into a reality.
4:21
This report clearly shows that the UK needs to increase the flexibility or electricity demand from three gigawatts today to around 12 gigawatts by 2030.
4:32
So really, flexibility isn't just a technical capability, if you like.
4:37
It really is the bridge between affordability, sustainability, and energy security.
4:43
Next slide, please, Joe. Yeah, thanks, Garrett. So, what exactly is demand-side response?
4:49
So, I suppose in simple terms, it's about businesses managing their energy use in real time.
4:54
So, that's reducing or shifting demand or using on-site generation at specific times to help balance the grid.
5:00
So, there's more renewables into the system, which are naturally intermittent.
5:05
The grid needs this flexibility to stay stable and certainly affordable.
5:09
So by adjusting demand at the right moments, businesses help keep the lights on, they enable more renewable power to come through and earn revenue for doing so.
5:19
So I think for manufacturers, it's a win-win.
5:22
So you can generate new income from assets you already own.
5:26
You can offset rising energy costs and strengthen site resilience.
5:30
That's with the advanced notice of potential grid stress events.
5:33
So I think to wrap that up, demand response helps you turn flexibility into profit while supporting a cleaner, more resilient energy future, while, I suppose, more importantly, as well as improving your own bottom line as well.
5:48
So next slide, please.
5:53
Thank you.
5:54
When we talk about energy flexibility, and Jeb just touched on this, it's really trying or thinking about this by making your existing assets and operations work harder for you, not just by producing efficiently, but by producing strategically.
6:11
Now, at Enel X, we really focus on three key areas when we talk about energy flexibility in markets. It's the capacity market, it's ancillary services, and there are energy markets.
6:22
Now, each of these different programs available to consumers really deliver a different type of avoidance.
6:35
Now, when you combine these methods, they really help food and beverage manufacturers lower the energy spend, create new income and strengthen site resilience.
6:44
And the tricky part is knowing which of these programs fit either which assets or operations on your site and how to capture that value really with minimal disruption to production.
6:55
And this is exactly where analytics come in.
6:58
Yeah, I think, thanks, I think our rule is to help you turn operational flexibility into financial returns.
7:04
So we look at your core assets and we match them to fit the opportunities that best fit your process and production windows.
7:11
So as mentioned, there are a multitude of programs available while with the capacity market offering the largest value.
7:18
So the capacity market can be a guaranteed income stream for being available to reduce load during system stress events.
7:26
That's when given the four hours notice, of course.
7:28
So there's only a few brief tests each year, therefore there's very low disruption to your operations.
7:34
And we'll touch on this a little bit more detail over the next few slides, but there are other programs such as ancillary services, which reward fast acting assets like CHP, chillers, generators that can help stabilize a grid frequency in real time.
7:49
Whereas also got, as you can see on the screen, their energy markets, these enables arbitrage or shifting or generating power when the prices are high, and then storing or importing when the prices are low.
8:00
So this daily optimization can cut bills and boost profitability again using assets that you already own.
8:07
So behind the scenes here and I'll actually handle all the dispatch, the compliance, the reporting so your operations stay seamless.
8:14
So in short we help you monetize flexibility safely and predictably and creating a new revenue and energy serving opportunities. Next slide please. Thank you.
8:26
When we talk about energy flexibility, I think it's really important to remember that one of the main reasons that flexibility is so critical is to protect energy security.
8:38
Now, out of the programs that we've discussed, there's one in particular called the capacity market, and this mechanism is ultimately the grid's last line of defense.
8:47
It's what helps prevent large-scale rolling blackouts, just like the ones that we saw in Spain and Portugal earlier this year.
8:55
So with that in mind, I'd like to ask anyone on the call today a couple of questions.
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What would be the impact of a blackout to your operations?
9:04
And perhaps more importantly, if your business was given four hours notice, how would you adapt your operations to minimize that impact?
9:13
Yeah, I think that's a great point, Guy.
9:15
As you're aware, I've spent a lot of time working with food and beverage manufacturers.
9:19
So I've seen firsthand how dependent these operations are on a continuous and reliable power supply.
9:26
So refrigeration, chillers, ovens, compressors, wastewater plants even, these are all energy intensive and absolutely critical to keeping production on track.
9:36
So sudden power loss or even just a, I suppose a short interruption can mean lost batches, downtime and significant financial impact.
9:43
I think it has to be said as well, reputational risk within the industry.
9:46
So it's not just about inconvenience, it's about maintaining quality, safety, and consistency.
9:54
So I suppose if I put myself in a production manager's shoes, my first thoughts might be, well, isn't that somebody else's problem to fix?
10:01
Well, the reality is it's not.
10:03
National Grid is asking CNI users to help balance the grid.
10:12
So again, what we're really asking, I suppose, thinking about in real terms is could your operations be flexible on rare occasions if doing so was in your own interest?
10:23
Because if the answer is yes, and even partly yes, you're already in a position to earn new revenue, reduce risk and build greater resilience on your sites. Next slide, please.
10:41
So let's discuss in more detail about the, I suppose, the core flexibility services, which is the capacity market.
10:46
And it certainly is one of the most accessible programmes for food and drink manufacturers to participate in.
10:51
And the capacity market, as we've mentioned, is National Grid's last line of defence against major system stress.
10:58
So, when a potential issue is forecast on the grid, a capacity market notice is issued, which triggers a four-hour countdown.
11:05
So, this gives participants time to prepare to either reduce demand or increase generation.
11:11
So, I think, importantly, in the 10 years the programme has run, there's never been a system stress event.
11:16
All notices, I been one a year on average, I think 13 in total.
11:21
These have always been recalled before action was actually required. So, yet participants are still being paid for being available.
11:28
So, essentially, that's just batting the hand in there and saying, yes, we're ready to respond if needed. So, how does creating this flexibility, I suppose, work in practice?
11:37
How do our clients know if they can participate?
11:40
I suppose, harnessing energy flexibility starts by identifying where and how a business can adjust its energy usage for example during non-critical processes that schedule downtime using thermal storage all without compromising operations.
11:54
So I think for food and drink manufacturers this could mean leveraging refrigeration cycles batch processing cleaning and maintenance schedules as well.
12:02
So we'll explore the financial benefits that can be realized through participation a little later in the webinar as well. Next slide please.
12:13
Thank you.
12:14
When we talk about the capacity market and participation in the market, there are essentially two ways for businesses to enter.
12:22
One of them is either curtailment, so turning power down on site.
12:27
Alternatively, you can also use existing generation assets, which most commonly come in the form of either CHPs or battery energy storage systems or Now, out of these two entry points, if you like, participating with existing generation is often the simplest way for organizations to take part, because instead of reducing your energy consumption, businesses with on-site generation can either switch on, increase the output of, or simply continue running their generation assets during a stress event.
13:01
Now, the very running of those assets helps reduce the stress on the grid, while simultaneously earning a revenue stream as well.
13:11
Now, many of the customers that we, or that earn revenue, use this revenue to cover maintenance costs for these assets, CHPs in particular, are extremely expensive or can be expensive to maintain and run, so the revenue that they earn from the capacity market directly goes to cover the costs of servicing those assets.
13:34
And also what we found recently is a lot of consumers that are looking at installing CHPs from the word go or from the very beginning, if they're able to know and they're informed of what revenues they can earn, it's really helping build that business case quicker and actually get signed off from the business in a really short timeframe as well.
13:57
So, we speak with multiple businesses on a weekly basis that simply didn't realize that these assets could be used to support the grid – or support grid resilience, rather.
14:09
And they're now realizing that the assets on their site have a really high earning potential for them.
14:14
Now, this is particularly beneficial, we believe, for food and beverage manufacturers because many of you already have on-site generation for either energy resilience or cost control.
14:25
So, by integrating these assets into the capacity market, businesses can turn an operational necessity into a revenue-generating opportunity.
14:35
Next slide, please, Jim.
14:39
Yeah, thanks, Gareth.
14:40
That's it.
14:40
Gareth has covered the existing generation, so I'd like to turn focus now to curtailment or in simple terms, how businesses can reduce or certainly shift demand.
14:49
And one of the first questions we're often asked is, how can we participate or, I suppose, more directly, what can we turn down or curtail?
14:57
And the reality is that most manufacturers have more flexibility in their energy demand than they think.
15:04
So many production processes can temporarily reduce usage or shift timing without affecting output or quality.
15:12
And that creates real opportunity.
15:14
There's certainly no one size fits all approach, but I suppose there's a general rule of thumb that best counted into energy intensive processes, refrigeration, cold storage, heating, I suppose, and cooling systems as well.
15:26
So from our experience across the food and beverage sector, I suppose the biggest sweet spots include bottling and canning lines, you know production cycles can be strategically timed, bakery ovens, proofing chambers, energy heavy but certainly adaptable, fermentation tanks, mixers, pasteurization units, again with process timing, can potentially be flexed and obviously you've got refrigeration and cold storage, so these are critical loads, but they can still offer controllable flexibility.
15:54
I suppose the key takeaway is that most businesses already have the assets, chillers, ovens, compressors and pumps, for example, that can adjust energy use for short periods without impacting production or quality. And that's where NLX comes in.
16:10
We work directly with your operational and engineering teams to create a tailored energy reduction plan, which ensures any participation is seamless, controlled, and most importantly, profitable as well.
16:24
Next slide, please.
16:29
Thank you.
16:30
We talked about the two different entry points to the market, which is either existing generation or curtailment.
16:38
So let's have a look at some real world examples now.
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The two examples on the screen which we'll show you are from existing clients and within the food and beverage sector as well.
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so very relevant for the people on the call today.
16:53
The first example we'll give is one of the UK's largest milling businesses.
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And how they participate is by turning down their energy consumption across their sites.
17:04
And I think it was their rollers and potentially their packaging lines that they entered into the market.
17:09
Now one of our engineers went out on site with their engineering team and they just given five megawatts worth of flexibility across their site that they could monetize.
17:18
And over a five year term, there were any projections which are really accurate as well.
17:25
It's close to 1.2 million pounds over that term.
17:28
So it's really substantial.
17:31
Another customer, a major drinks manufacturer that we've recently, recently began working with have two CHPs across their sites.
17:40
Now these CHPs have been in place, I think, for the best part of three years from memory, But they didn't realize or have knowledge around the capacity market, so they spoke with us, we did a site assessment, and we signed their two CHPs up.
17:55
And over a five-year term, this company will bank almost half a million pounds, £475 ,000 out of that term.
18:03
So the money that we're talking about here is substantial, and that revenue can be used, well, for various different upgrades that they may look at on site or sustainability projects that they may want to get off the ground but again two really solid examples of current customers that we're working with. Next slide please.
18:30
So what does the client journey look like when working with NLX?
18:33
So for food and beverage manufacturers we make flexibility participation as simple and structured as we can so we ensure a smooth route into the capacity market with zero impact on production.
18:45
So it all starts with a short consultation and site review so we at how and when you use energy, usually via your half alligator, and we therefore identify where flexibility naturally exists within your operations.
18:59
From there, we build a tailored energy reduction plan alongside your teams, generally operation and engineering teams, and we set out how you can safely adjust load if called upon.
19:08
And from that, then we determine the megawatts that we can enter into the market.
19:12
We then handle all the onboarding with national grid. So that's the paperwork, the registration and the testing.
19:18
So participation is completely hassle free.
19:22
If a system stress event ever did occur, and like I said, there hasn't been one in 10, 11 years, we guide you through that in real time.
19:29
So even if no event is called, you still get paid critically for simply being available.
19:35
So finally, we manage all payments and performance reviews, optimizing results year after year, and ensure NLX takes care of everything end-to-end which is allowing you to focus on production while we turn your energy flexibility into a reliable new revenue stream. Next slide please.
19:55
Thanks, so look we're back to the energy trilemma slide but we'd like to try and reframe this and really start to think about rather than the challenge, is it an energy opportunity for businesses to take advantage of?
20:08
What if energy flexibility earnings can help finance projects such as on-site solar, battery storage, all of the green initiatives that require capital.
20:18
And we've got some, again, real-world examples at the moment.
20:21
We're currently working with a customer that has particularly aggressive carbon reduction goals, and they haven't got access to some of the capital which would help them succeed those goals in a shorter timeframe.
20:34
Now, by working with us, they realized that if they entered the capacity market and also two other services, They were able to unlock new revenues and self-fund a 1.4 megawatt solar for one of their production facilities.
20:48
Obviously, this had a major positive impact on their goals and really shortened that timeline of success.
20:55
Another customer that is quite a common occurrence at the moment we've come across is looking – going through an electrification journey at the moment and looking to electrify a big portion of their fleet.
21:06
They had a plan to install over 150 EV charges for their growing fleet.
21:12
Again, by working with us, they unlocked a revenue stream that enabled them to accelerate the rollout by two years, approximately, which was, again, a great result, kept everyone at a happy, the business happy, shareholders happy, et cetera, and really helped them achieve their electrification journey in a shorter timeframe.
21:30
It really is a win-win situation.
21:33
Not only do they help strengthen their financial and operation resilience as a business, but they also accelerate that path towards net zero and ensuring that they stay ahead in really what is never evolving energy landscape at the moment.
21:48
Next slide, please.
21:52
Yeah, thanks, Gerard.
21:52
So, I suppose the question is why partner with NLX?
21:56
I think because we bring the scale, I think the experience and proven results to make energy flexibility work for you.
22:02
So, as part of the Enel Group, one of the world's leading energy companies, with more than 60 years' experience and operations in circa 30 countries now, we combine global strength with local expertise.
22:15
With almost 10 gigawatts of flexible assets under management worldwide, and hundreds of megawatts right here in Great Britain and Ireland, we see ourselves not just as a partner, we're your route to turning energy flexibility into measurable business value.
22:31
So, in short, partnering with NLX means working with a team that understands your operations.
22:38
Certainly, we all get to know your operations, your pressures and your potential.
22:42
And we have the expertise to turn flexibility into an advantage.
22:46
Next slide, please.
22:51
Thanks, Jed.
22:52
And that is pretty much all we've got time for today.
22:55
Thanks for everyone joining us.
22:58
We've got some time and we've had some questions come through, some really good and relevant ones as well.
23:03
So thank you again for everyone contributing to those and also completing the polls as well.
23:10
Again, if we touched on something which you're either unsure of or you'd like more information on, please do reach out.
23:16
I would strongly suggest that all businesses at least review whether they're suitable for energy flexibility services.
23:25
I would much rather be in a position as a business to rule something out after having investigated it rather than actually miss out on what could be a really substantial revenue generating opportunity.
23:37
So, even if it's just for a quick call about your operations and ask some more questions on a one-on-one environment, please do reach out to me, the judge, and myself, and we'd be happy to jump on to a call.
23:49
Jeff, do you want to run the first question, or would you like me to?
23:52
Yeah, you can go. I'm struggling to see the screen from mine, actually, on the question.
24:00
There's two, which is quite similar here, which is we operate three sites across the UK.
24:07
Whilst our energy consumption per site is quite low, collectively it's quite high, would we be eligible? Look, really good question. The answer is yes, possibly.
24:17
I suppose another way to maybe approach this would be like, what are the thresholds of participation?
24:24
There's two parts to this.
24:25
If you have an existing generation asset, then we look at something as close to one megawatt as possible.
24:32
There can be exceptions, but there and thereabouts one megawatt.
24:35
In terms of power turning down or curtailment, so if you have operations that you would like to explore or believe that can be turned down for short periods of time, then no, there's real no threshold there.
24:47
we can look at aggregating those sites together and entering the market as a whole, but obviously on an individual site basis.
24:57
That's obviously what we do.
24:59
We have lots of customers that we aggregate energy for and help them access market and see the benefits of obviously earning the revenues as well.
25:09
So again, similar to my original comment, I would suggest if anyone else on the call thinking well actually we might be too small or alternatively if they're too large if you think you're too large some of our largest customers consume over 50 megawatts worth of power which is obviously very very high end some of our smallest ones would be a few hundred kilowatts so that's that's quite a broad spectrum to be to be included in so again it would just be worth having a chat investigating whether or not you'd be suitable and i think it's worth point as well is that actually flexibility services are for everybody.
25:44
So actually, by actually engaging with us, we can have a look at your flexibility potential and actually very, very quickly rule you in or rule you out.
25:52
And as we said, then we can go into looking at your half hourly dates and doing site reviews as well.
25:59
Spot on, thanks Jed.
26:00
Did you have one that you needed to run through, Jed, or wanted to run through?
26:04
No, no, I've...
26:10
If not, I've got another one here.
26:13
Yeah. How would we get started if we wanted to review energy flexibility on our sites?
26:20
I guess, look, it's really simple to start with.
26:24
Everyone on the call today knows their own businesses a **** of a lot better than we do.
26:29
So how we want a successful review of a flexibility customer or potential flexibility customer is really with a site visit and a site inspection.
26:40
And on that visit, we would suggest that we have someone that knows about your operations.
26:45
Maybe someone in engineering would be very helpful as well.
26:50
And we would ask one of our engineers this end would attend.
26:55
And really, this is very much a fact-finding exercise.
26:58
It would be doing a deep dive into what your profile, operation profile is, how you use your energy, talking about what energy-intensive assets you have on site, what equipment, what kilowatt racing is etc.
27:11
After we've got that information we'd ask for the half hourly data, the last 12 months of half hourly data from the site as well.
27:19
Once we've got that half hourly data from the site and we've done a deep dive talking to your site experts around how your facility operates within about I'd say 10 business days if not sooner we really come back with an answer of number one, what is flexible on your site, what the load is, and more importantly, what it's worth to the business as well.
27:42
We can wrap a value around that really, really quickly.
27:45
And again, I think back to my original point, we do speak with a lot of companies that are on the peripheral of looking at energy flexibility, and we've managed to get in front of them, talk to them, do a site visit, and uncover a really tenable opportunity for them.
28:03
So, again, anyone on the call today that's kind of unsure, I would always suggest that you review the options as a business, have a look at what that flexibility, if any, on your site is actually worth, and really take that to the business to consider rather than looking at whether you're flexible or not or what you could potentially do.
28:21
Find that part out first, and then whatever that value is, if you like, that we can wrap around that flexibility, present that to the business for a decision.
28:33
I'm sorry, but I think that's everything we've got time for today.
28:37
I didn't realize it was already half 10, so I'm getting ushered.
28:40
But again, look, thanks for everyone jumping on.
28:42
It's been great.
28:43
Do feel free to reach out to either Jed or myself, and we'll continue to support the FDF in any way, shape, or form that we can.
28:50
Yeah, thank you very much, everybody.
