Background StoryThe client is recognized as one of the leading district cooling providers in the United Arab Emirates. They have an extensive portfolio of District Cooling Plants (DCPs) and are keen on pursuing substantial opportunities to expand their operations throughout the Gulf region's dynamic property development market. The client was interested in enhancing the efficiency of their plants and reducing their energy consumption costs. As a result, they reached out to Ark Energy. The specific project in question was centered around one of the client's DCPs. After implementing the energy efficiency retrofit, the ESCO commenced the measurement and verification (M&V) reporting process. It was observed that the application of multiple Non-Routine Adjustments (NRAs) by the ESCO, triggered by changing the CHWST.ChallengeThe issue stems from the ESCO implementing numerous non-routine adjustments (NRAs) in response to changes in the chilled water setpoint (CHWST) made by the district cooling plant operator. While the ESCO is entitled to claim for NRAs upon adjusting the CHWST, it must clearly inform the client about the impact of manually overriding the CHWST and specify whether the adjustment was made by the operator or the ESCO. This frequent claiming of NRAs for CHWST adjustments negatively affects overall savings, undermining stakeholders' trust and confidence in the reported savings figures.
Main ObjectiveThe primary objective is to develop an NRA approach for manually overriding the CHWST that minimizes and accurately reflects the impact of non-routine adjustments, avoiding adverse effects on both the ESCO and the client. This approach aims to accurately reflect the actual savings and achieved energy efficiency as per the investment-grade audit.ApproachThe Ark Energy team, serving as a client consultant, collaborated with both the Client and the ESCO to develop strategic mitigation measures as per the IPMVP aimed at minimizing non-routine adjustments (NRAs) within the Measurement and Verification (M&V) reports. These measures have been carefully crafted to enhance the accuracy and reliability of energy efficiency assessments, with a primary focus on streamlining processes to yield more consistent results. Some of the key measures that were utilized include the following: - Developing a tailored operational incident log to facilitate the tracking of any changes in CHWST, including the date of the override, the responsible party (ESCO or client), and whether the plant was in automatic or manual operation
- Creating guidelines to facilitate the calculation of Non-Routine Adjustments (NRAs) of CHWST in accordance with the chosen Measurement and Verification (M&V) option, including the development of pre-agreed operating CHWST thresholds
- Developing a new calculation methodology for CHWST as per IPMVP, which accurately reflects the impact of adjusting CHWST on energy consumption
Results
The results that were generated from the project include the following:
- Reducing the NRAs by 30%
- Increased the overall cost savings by 15%
- Reducing the time for reviewing the NRAs by 40%