Peak shaving: How to cut peak loads and drastically reduce your electricity costs

Are exploding energy costs and high grid charges weighing on your company? Have you already tried everything to reduce consumption (kWh), but the electricity bill remains a huge burden? Then we have good news: the biggest cost driver is often hidden elsewhere. The key to the solution lies not in overall consumption, but in short, extremely expensive consumption peaks (kW).

As experts in self-sufficiency and intelligent energy systems, we at Verkauf-Bochum.de will show you how it really works. We not only explain what the term means, but also how you can use the right technology - especially intelligent battery storage systems - to massively reduce your electricity costs, increase your independence and future-proof your company.

The most important facts in brief: What is peak shaving?

Peak shaving, or peak shaving, is a strategic method in energy management to reduce ("cap") short-term, high power peaks in electricity consumption from the public grid.

🎯Theaim is to reduce the power price (€/kW), which often accounts for a significant proportion of the electricity bill for industrial and commercial tariffs.

⚙️Howit works: A battery storage system or intelligent load management system supplies additional energy when required, so that less power has to be drawn from the grid.

🏆Main benefit: Direct and significant reduction in electricity costs through lower grid charges and power costs.

Understanding the problem: What are peak loads and why are they so expensive?

To understand why peak shaving is so effective, we need to look at how your electricity provider bills - assuming you are a commercial or industrial customer with an annual consumption of over 100,000 kWh and therefore have an RLM meter (Recording Load Metering).

Your meter not only measures how much energy you consume (work in kWh), but also the maximum amount of power you draw at any one time (power in kW). This is recorded in a so-called load profile every 15 minutes.

Working price vs. performance price: the decisive difference

A company therefore pays two main components on the electricity bill:

• The working price (ct/kWh): This is like rent per square meter. You pay for every kilowatt hour that you actually consume. You save here by using LED lamps or efficient machines.
  
  
• The power price (€ /kW): This is a high fee for the maximum size of the "front door" you need to the electricity grid. This charge covers the costs incurred by the grid operator to provide enough power even during short, intense peak load periods.
  The tricky thing is that a single 15-minute consumption peak throughout the year can be enough to set the demand charge for the next 12 months!

A concrete calculation example

To make the savings potential tangible, let's take a look at a typical company:

Assumptions for the example:

• Continuous load: 300 kW (the constant basic consumption)
  
• Peak load: +100 kW (short-term, e.g. due to additional machines starting up)
• Measured maximum power: 400 kW
• Working price: 0.20 €/kWh
• Power price: 100 €/kW per year
• Total annual consumption: 2,638,000 kWh

The annual saving here is 10,000 € - simply by capping the peak load. It is important to note that the total energy consumption (and therefore the energy price) remains identical. The savings are achieved solely by reducing the power price.

The solution: What exactly does peak shaving mean?

Peak shaving is the intelligent capping of these expensive peak loads. Instead of drawing full power from the public grid when your energy demand is at its highest, you cover this peak demand from another source. This means that the public grid only sees a "smoothed", i.e. lower, maximum power consumption.

The result: the peak value relevant for billing decreases, and so do your costs. Peak shaving is therefore not just energy saving, but intelligent cost management.

Related terms you should know:

• Peak shaving: The German synonym for peak shaving.
  
  
• Peak load management: A generic term that covers all measures for controlling peak loads.
  
  
• Demand side management (DSM): Refers to all measures to influence electricity consumption on the demand side, including peak shaving.

Peak shaving and load shifting: the crucial difference in practice

There are various ways to manage peak loads. By far the most flexible and effective method, which we at Verkauf-Bochum.de plan and implement for our customers, is the use of battery storage systems.

Method 1: Battery storage systems (BSS) - the game changer

A commercial battery storage system is the centerpiece of a modern peak shaving strategy. The storage system acts like your own decentralized power plant on site. Instead of feeding surplus energy into the grid in an uncontrolled manner, it makes it available when it is most valuable: to reduce your expensive peak loads.

1. Charging: At times of low electricity demand (e.g. at night) or when your PV system is producing a high yield, the storage system is charged with cheap energy.
   
   
2. Monitoring: An intelligent energy management system (EMS) - the system's brain - continuously monitors your load profile in real time. It knows your consumption peaks and predicts when the next one is imminent.
   
   
3. Discharging (peak shaving): If the power drawn from the grid approaches a predefined limit, the battery storage system discharges at lightning speed and provides the additional power required. The peak is "intercepted" directly on site before it reaches the meter.
   

The advantages are obvious: the system works fully automatically, reacts in milliseconds and leaves your core processes in the company completely unaffected. Here we rely on proven and extremely reliable components, e.g. from Victron Energy in combination with safe and long-lasting Voltsmile lithium storage systems.

Method 2: Intelligent load management (load shifting & load shedding)

Your consumers are actively controlled to avoid peaks:

• Load shedding: non-critical loads (e.g. air conditioning systems, pumps, charging columns) are specifically switched off for a short time to prevent a peak.
  
  
• Load shifting: Energy-intensive processes (e.g. charging an e-vehicle fleet) are deliberately shifted to low-load times, such as at night.
  

This method requires controllable consumers and is often less flexible than battery storage, but can be very effective in combination.

Expert warning: Why "cheap" is highly dangerous here!

The market is full of supposed bargains and "insider tips" from online forums or AI chatbots. But be careful: when it comes to energy storage systems, being cheap can be life-threatening and end up costing you dearly.

• Unsafe components: Self-built or non-certified batteries (e.g. from platforms such as Power Queen for the DIY market) have no place in a professional commercial system. There is an acute risk of fire!
  
  
• Insurance cover at risk: Without the necessary certificates and professional installation, you risk losing all your insurance cover in the event of damage.
  
  
• Incorrect planning: A system that is only designed for "lots of kWh" but cannot provide the necessary power (kW) for your peaks is a bad investment.
  

Our advice as professionals: Rely on tested system solutions from experienced providers. At Verkauf-Bochum.de, we plan your system from A to Z, create circuit diagrams and ensure safe commissioning. This is the only way that pays off in the long term.

The benefits of peak shaving: this is how efficient peak shaving is (especially with PV systems)

The investment in a peak shaving system often pays for itself after just a few years. Here is an overview of the most important benefits:

• Massive cost savings & predictability
  • Reduction of the power price: The biggest lever. As shown in the example, you can quickly save five-figure sums per year.
    
  • Reduction in grid charges: These also often depend on the maximum power consumption.
    
  • Avoidance of grid expansion costs: When expanding your business, you can often save yourself the cost of expanding your grid connection.
    
  • Increased predictability: Smoother, more consistent consumption reduces unpleasant surprises on your electricity bill and makes your energy costs more predictable.
    
    
• Increased security of supply & grid stability
  • You become less dependent on fluctuating prices and the stability of the public grid.
  • At the same time, you relieve the burden on public lines and contribute to the stability of the entire electricity grid. Grid operators reward companies that smooth out their peak loads. Every capped peak is a small contribution that relieves the load on large power plant capacities.
• Optimization of self-consumption (especially with a PV system)
  • Your cheap solar power becomes even more valuable because it not only replaces the low energy price, but also avoids the extremely expensive capacity price.
• Sustainability and achievement of ESG goals
  • Efficient energy use and the use of storage or load management improve the carbon footprint and are a clear commitment to climate protection and improve your corporate image.
    

More than just peak shaving: the additional benefits of battery storage

A commercial storage system is much more than just a "peak capper". Once it is in place, it can take on additional tasks and further increase its cost-effectiveness:

• Increase PV self-consumption: store your solar power from the day for use at night.
  
  
• Emergency power supply: Ensures the operation of your critical systems in the event of a power failure.
  
  
• Electricity price arbitrage (spot market trading): Buy electricity on the exchange when it is cheap (at night, when there is a lot of wind), store it and use it when it would be expensive to buy.
  
  
• Control energy marketing: Make capacity available to the grid operator to stabilize the grid and earn additional money.

For whom is peak shaving useful? Industrial applications and other sectors

In principle, peak shaving is worth considering for any company with an RLM meter and an annual consumption of over 100,000 kWh. There is particularly high potential:

🏭 Industry & manufacturing: High start-up currents from machinery generate typical peak loads.

📦 Logistics & cold stores: Cooling units have a high and often simultaneous power requirement.

🏢 Commercial properties & shopping centers: Air conditioning, ventilation and lighting lead to predictable peaks.

🚜 Agricultural businesses: The simultaneous operation of pumps, mills or ventilation systems.

🔌Charging infrastructure for e-mobility: The simultaneous charging of several electric vehicles generates massive and extremely expensive load peaks - a modern and increasingly important use case!

From analysis to savings: the 5 phases of implementation

A professional peak shaving project follows a clear, proven process. It's not about simply installing a storage system, but about creating a customized solution that is economically viable and technically flawless. These five phases are the industry standard for a successful project.

Phase 1: Creating the data basis (load profile analysis)

Every serious project begins with an analysis of last year's consumption data. Without this data basis, any planning is pure speculation. This requires the so-called 15-minute load profile data that companies receive from their grid operator or from their energy supplier's online portal. This data reveals the level, duration and regularity of peak loads.

Phase 2: Calculating the savings potential (profitability analysis)

The concrete savings potential is determined on the basis of the analysis. It is calculated how much the power price can be reduced and how this affects the annual electricity costs. The return on investment (ROI) for a possible investment can be derived from this.

Phase 3: Designing the system (technology selection & dimensioning)

The technical solution is designed in this phase. The appropriate components (inverter, battery storage system, control system) are selected and, above all, correctly dimensioned. The key question here is not just "How much capacity (kWh) do I need?", but above all "How much power (kW) must the system be able to deliver in order to safely cap the peaks?".

Phase 4: Planning and supporting the implementation (implementation planning)

The result of the technical planning is a detailed circuit and implementation plan. This plan serves as a precise guide for the specialist electrical company installing the system on site. The planner's task here is often to coordinate the installation and act as a technical contact for the company carrying out the work.

Phase 5: Bringing the system to life (commissioning & optimization)

After the physical installation by the electrician, the most critical step follows: commissioning. This is where the control logic is programmed, the threshold values for peak shaving are set and the system is connected to the remote monitoring system. Only after successful testing and fine-tuning does the system begin to actively save money. Ongoing monitoring ensures optimum operation in the future.

As you can see, the implementation of a peak shaving system is not so much a question of "if", but of "how". The quality of the analysis, planning and commissioning determines success or failure.

This is precisely where our strength lies at Verkauf-Bochum.de. We are the experts for the decisive phases of this process: from the well-founded load profile analysis to the tailor-made system design with proven components from Victron Energy and Voltsmile through to professional commissioning and remote maintenance.

Pay or act? The choice is yours.

The logic behind Peak Shaving is basically simple - and at the same time one of the smartest and most effective measures to sustainably reduce your energy costs as a company, especially for companies with short but high peak loads. Instead of passively accepting the high bills from your energy supplier, you take the reins yourself.

Not only are you reducing your dependency on the public grid and its price development, but you are also investing in security of supply and sustainability.

Want to discover your savings potential?

The first step is always a precise analysis of your load profile. This is the only way to reliably determine how much money you can really save.

Let us check your load profile together without obligation. Our experts will evaluate your data and show you in black and white what savings potential is possible for you with an intelligent peak shaving system.

At Verkauf-Bochum.de, you'll find the perfect product for this exciting topic. Discover your customized set now - click here!