Not so long ago, most businesses viewed batteries as little more than an insurance policy against loadshedding. With businesses never quite knowing when the next outage would hit, many invested in Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) to ensure their operations could continue when the lights went out.
But with loadshedding now largely behind us, is the battery conversation redundant?
Absolutely not – in fact, the demand for commercial battery solutions is higher than ever.
With electricity tariffs continuing to rise, new charges finding their way onto utility bills and businesses under growing pressure to protect their bottom line, batteries are increasingly being considered as a strategic cost-saving tool rather than simply a backup solution. However, the challenge is that many corporate and industrial (C&I) businesses – typically heavy energy consumers – are finding that battery proposals aren’t always easy to compare. The right battery can offer significant savings and improve energy security, while the wrong solution can leave you with an oversized system and a return on investment that doesn’t deliver. But how do you know which it is, until it’s too late?
Whether you’re exploring BESS for the first time or comparing multiple proposals for battery as a sustainable power solution, these are six questions every business should be asking before signing on the dotted line.
While backup power remains an important benefit, it is no longer the primary reason many businesses are investing in battery energy storage systems. More and more, companies are using batteries to manage electricity costs.
A battery can store energy when electricity is cheaper and discharge it when tariffs are higher, which is known as time-of-use arbitrage. Batteries can also help reduce demand peaks, which may reduce charges linked to maximum demand. For businesses already using commercial solar energy systems, batteries can unlock even more value by storing excess solar generation for use later in the day, reducing reliance on the grid.
When it comes to batteries, bigger isn’t always better.
An oversized battery may increase project costs without delivering proportional savings, while an undersized system may not provide the operational or financial return you’re expecting.
Correct sizing depends on several factors, including your electricity consumption profile, operating hours, tariff structure, backup requirements and existing energy stack. A business looking to reduce peak demand may require a very different system from one primarily focused on resilience, and a good provider will analyse historical consumption patterns and identify precisely when energy is being used before recommending a BESS.
For most C&I businesses, the answer is no. While batteries can significantly improve energy resilience, most are not designed to take a business completely off-grid.
The idea is to reduce grid reliance rather than eliminate it entirely. Many businesses achieve this by combining batteries with on-site solar generation, grid supply and solutions such as electricity wheeling, which enables renewable energy generated elsewhere to be delivered through the national grid.
This may be the most important question in the entire process, because battery savings don’t just appear out of thin air. They come from specific actions the battery performs, such as reducing peak demand, moving consumption away from expensive tariff periods, storing excess solar generation or reducing generator usage. A strong proposal should clearly show where savings will come from and what assumptions have been used to calculate them
Absolutely – and this is often where businesses receive the greatest value.
Companies are increasingly moving away from relying on a single energy source and instead building a more diversified energy mix. A battery can store excess energy generated by solar PV systems during the day, reduce generator runtime during outages, and complement electricity wheeling by helping manage when and how energy is consumed.
For many businesses, the future lies in combining multiple green energy solutions to improve energy security, lower costs and reduce carbon emissions, with the exact mix contingent on your business profile and needs.
Like any major business asset, a battery requires ongoing monitoring and maintenance to ensure it continues delivering value over time. Energy consumption patterns change, tariff structures evolve and business operations grow – a system that performs well today may require adjustments in future to maintain optimal savings.
A reputable provider should offer ongoing performance monitoring, reporting and support, while helping you identify opportunities to improve system utilisation as your energy needs evolve.
