NI Water colleagues and contractors have been working collaboratively to deliver energy efficiency improvements at Water Pumping Stations through a concept known as Adaptive Efficiency Control (AEC).
The concept was developed by Global Automation in close collaboration with the Energy Reduce Use Programme team. The AEC concept moves away from simple ‘level control’ and factors in Energy costs over a 24-hour period, to provide a least energy cost pumping strategy which takes account of Service Reservoir levels and resilience. This approach also factors in the pumps best efficiency point (BEP) / Specific Energy Consumption (SEC) and utilises tariff information to provide a pumping strategy that is least energy cost over a 24-hour period. AEC analyses the demand of the reservoir and adapts to operate within the existing Service Reservoir high and low limits. It uses real-time level and flow data combined with historical data to determine the lowest cost pumping regime delivering a cost-effective pumping strategy.
Colin Murtagh, Energy Reduce Use Programme Manager, NI Water said, “In order to achieve a challenging Energy Reduce Use target of £1.5m over the PC21 period, it was accepted that targeting and optimising our pumping assets was a key part of this journey. Working closely with Global Automation we have developed a concept whereby we have moved away from simple level control (based on high and low Service Reservoir levels) where energy pumping costs are now factored into the equation to provide the least cost pumping regime over a 24-hour period.”
Pictured at Glenshane Knockloughrim Water Pumping Station is L-R, Bobby O’Kane (Networks Field Manager) and Aidan Donnelly (Global Automation).
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