1 Peak demand: the silent factory killer
The plant’s baseline load is 28 MW, but stamping presses and paint ovens create 42 MW spikes. Each MW of peak adds €120 k yr⁻¹ in capacity charges and €30 k yr⁻¹ in network tariffs. Traditional demand-response (DR) slowed conveyors—unacceptable when Tesla ships 1,000 cars per day. Smart grid solutions had to cut peaks while keeping torque unchanged.
2 Sub-cycle control: vacuum breakers as grid actors
Standard DR reacts in seconds; motor inrush happens in milliseconds. Vacuum interrupters embedded with 1 MHz Rogowski coils detect inrush within 0.2 ms and signal inverters to inject 15 MW synthetic inertia. Peak excursion drops from 42 MW to 37 MW—enough to avoid the highest capacity bracket without touching production cadence.
3 Edge-AI load orchestrator
An NVIDIA Jetson module ingests 3,000 tags (torque, HVAC, compressed air) every 100 ms. A reinforcement-learning agent pre-cools paint booths by 0.8 °C during the stamp press ramp, shifting 2 MW of HVAC load by 90 seconds—imperceptible to operators. After six months the agent beats human schedulers by 6 %, worth €96 k yr⁻¹.
4 P2P energy blockchain: kWh with passports
Surplus PV (8 MW rooftop) is tokenised on Hyperledger Fabric. Each kWh carries a GPS stamp and SF₆ mass (0 kg). The nearby university buys 200 MWh yr⁻¹ at €0.08 kWh—€16 k revenue—while meeting its 24/7 renewable target. Smart contracts settle every 15 minutes; payment failure triggers a breaker trip, guaranteeing credit risk is zero.
5 Battery degradation hedge
Lithium warranty is 70 % capacity after 10 years. Predictive models inside the Jetson module limit depth-of-discharge to 65 % during peak-shave events. Calendar ageing drops 12 %, extending battery life by 2.3 years and saving €0.8 M in replacement NPV.
6 Finance: green-bond plus peak-shave cash-flow
The €14 M project qualified for a 50 bp discount under EIB Climate Awareness Bonds. Interest savings (€0.7 M yr⁻¹) plus peak-shave revenue (€1.6 M yr⁻¹) create a 14-month simple payback. Banks now underwrite future DR cash-flows at 6× EBITDA—turning smart grid solutions into a saleable asset class.
7 Replication playbook
- Install vacuum GIS with 1 MHz sensors
- Embed edge AI capable of sub-second control
- Tokenise renewable surplus on blockchain
- Hedge battery life with predictive DoD caps
- Refinance via green bonds using DR revenue as collateral
8 Conclusion: megawatts become megabucks
Industrial micro-grids prove that smart grid solutions are not IT toys—they are profit centres. When vacuum interrupters talk to AI and kWh carry carbon passports, peak demand turns into peak profit, and sustainability becomes a line item in the CFO’s spreadsheet.
Build your peak-shaving micro-grid with Degatech Electric’s smart grid solutions—vacuum-interrupted, AI-orchestrated, blockchain-settled—at Degatech Electric Switchgear Products.
