Towards industrial agility: control architectures for electricity-intensive facilities

As electricity-intensive industrial sites seek to reduce energy costs and improve operational flexibility, hybridization emerges as a promising solution. This paper explores the benefits of integrating distributed energy resources; highlighting cost savings, enhanced resilience, and revenue opportunities. The focus is on developing an agile, scalable control architecture that optimizes energy production, storage, and consumption in real-time. The proposed multi-layered control system integrates diverse technologies, such as solar, wind, and battery storage, with conventional generators. Key components include energy management systems, forecasting tools, and market interfaces to enable participation in demand response and other programs. Two case studies illustrate the architecture’s practical application. The first examines an electric bus depot utilizing solar PV, a gas turbine, and battery storage to reduce electricity bills, manage peak demand, and ensure isolated operation during winter storms. The second explores a water treatment plant combining PV and hydro power to lower grid dependency and alleviate congestion, with additional revenue opportunities during shutdown periods. These case studies demonstrate the architecture’s adaptability and impact on diverse industrial and commercial contexts, emphasizing cost efficiency, resilience, and sustainability. Future work includes refining control algorithms and integrating emerging technologies to advance hybrid power adoption.