Fluctuating power supplies

In recent years, the global demand for power has risen sharply. A new report from global research consultancy McKinsey predicts that global power consumption will ‘almost double by 2050’. The increased focus on electrification and technology is as evident in the healthcare industry as it is in our home lives, with technologically advanced equipment increasingly reliant on power to operate.

To meet these needs, as well as the ongoing mission to make the move to green sources of power generation, the UK’s energy mix is going through a transition. The transition from fossil fuel-generated power to wind and other renewable sources of energy brings with it power fluctuations that create a balancing act between supply and demand. Even a 1% deviation from the network’s frequency of 50 Hz. has the potential to damage equipment and infrastructure and cause power failures.

The impact of power outages

Needless to say, with people’s lives in their hands, hospital trusts are well aware of the impact of a break in mission-critical power. From the more obvious effect on lighting, heating, and operational infrastructure such as lifts and computer systems, to critical life-saving equipment in theatres and intensive care units.

In August 2019, the UK was hit by a huge power outage which saw homes and businesses left powerless and critical infrastructure such as the London Underground plunged into darkness. Power was lost across Ipswich Hospital after the backup generator failed to work. More recently, in 2024, East Surrey Hospital was forced to declare a “critical incident” after a power failure in its intensive care and high-dependency units.

Further afield, in Venezuela, a five-day nationwide blackout, which also occurred in 2019, tells a cautionary tale with devastating results.  With the lights on their mobile phones the only source of power, hospital staff watched helplessly as 26 people died in the country’s hospitals as a result of the power outage, including elderly patients unable to use ventilators, kidney failure patients without vital dialysis treatment, surgeons unable to operate, and babies in failing incubators.

The role of backup power

To mitigate the risk to life and the knock-on effect of having to reschedule appointments in an already overstretched public service, hospital power systems usually take a multi-phased approach to backing up their power supply. A mixture of local battery power and uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems will handle the immediate risk and prevent critical machines from shutting down. This short-term fail-safe is backed up by generator systems, which are designed to be operational within minutes and can take over from the emergency batteries and power buildings and machinery over a longer period.

Usually installed at the build-phase, standby generators are a common solution to provide backup power if the standard electricity supply is interrupted. They are known for being robust and reliable, offering contractors and facilities managers the reassurance that they’ll do the job and kick in if the worst happens. However, just like any other internal combustion engine, lubrication, cooling systems, fuel system, and electrics all need to be tested to ensure faultless operation.

Regular health checks

Regular health checks are as important for power systems as they are for people. Wherever a generator is installed, there is also a need for a load bank. These critical bits of kit are used to test, support, or protect a critical backup power source and ensure that it is working optimally should an outage occur. They do this by creating an electrical load that imitates the operational or ‘real’ load that a generator would use under normal operational conditions.

Ideally, generators should be tested annually using a resistive-reactive 0.8pf load bank. This type of load bank provides a picture of how well an entire system will withstand changes in load pattern while experiencing the level of power that would typically be encountered under real operational conditions.

The inductive loads used in resistive/reactive testing will show how a system will cope with a voltage drop in its regulator. This is particularly important for hospitals, where multiple generators might be operated in parallel. In this type of application, a problem with one generator could prevent other generators from working as they should. With fuel, exhaust, and cooling systems also untested, as well as the potential for embedded moisture, an untested system becomes extremely high risk.

Read more about the risks of not testing in our blog covering some of the top reasons for generator failure.

The business case for load banks

A load bank should be viewed as an essential investment in business continuity. When looking at specifying a load bank, the first decision is whether to hire or buy the equipment. The purchase price is far less than the potential costs of a power outage and, with rental options available, facilities can opt to implement regular testing without the need for capital expenditure.

Consider how many generators you have on-site and how regularly you’ll need to test them. In hospitals and healthcare, where power is critical, buying a load bank might be the best solution. However, for those who need to run testing at set intervals, or smaller facilities that have neither the space nor the technical expertise on-site, rental can provide an ideal solution.

For advice and guidance on selecting the right load bank:

What type of load bank do I need?

Where will the load bank test take place?

The importance of checking your generator nameplate

Load bank Rental agreements and lead times

The potential impact of power failures in the healthcare sector is unfathomable, putting the healthcare system under additional pressure and causing a threat to life. With this in mind, those specifying, commissioning, or managing these sites can ill-afford to overlook the critical role of load banks when it comes to ensuring a stable, consistent and constant flow of power.

The post Mission Critical Power: Avoiding the catastrophic impact of power outages in hospitals appeared first on Crestchic leading manufacturer of load banks.

Electricity under lockdown
Life under lockdown has led to a shift in the daily routines of millions of people. Offices with banks of computers and power-hungry air conditioning are closed, factories are operating on a skeleton staff or are temporarily shut, shops and commercial centres are on lockdown. The electrical demands of commercial and industrial settings have lessened significantly. At the same time, the lockdown has shifted the demands of consumers. Data suggests we’re getting up and staying up later, shifting our patterns of energy consumption along with our body clocks, while the massive increase in subscriptions to the likes of Netflix and Disney Plus is also evidence of the trend towards increased power consumption during the evening.

This pattern is being borne out by electricity networks across the globe. In New York, power consumption during the morning rush hour has fallen by as much as 18%, while Japan has recorded a 5% drop in power use during weekdays. In the UK, the National Grid has warned that record low demand for electricity during the coronavirus lockdown could see supply outstrip demand which, in turn, could lead to blackouts.

Why is fluctuating demand an issue?
It stands to reason that blackouts are likely to occur when the demand for electricity exceeds supply. Conversely, too much electricity can also be a problem, causing the frequency on the grid to rise and potentially causing damage to infrastructure as well as problems on local energy grids. The combination of high levels of power generation and low demand can also reduce the energy system’s resilience to sudden changes in frequency, which can lead to temporary blackouts.
In April 2020, just as the UK government announced the extension of lockdown plans, National Grid published a statement which suggested that demand for electricity could fall 20% below normal levels, potentially leading to an oversupply of electricity and subsequent issues with continuity of power. Put simply, the UK may experience blackouts.

Balancing supply and demand
Historically, power in the UK has been supplied by a small number of large power stations, such as coal or nuclear. These huge power generation plants are inflexible, taking hours to shut down safely, reducing their ability to make any fast changes to supply. As supply evolves and the world switches towards greener and more sustainable sources of power, there is even more variability in supply – bringing with it further fluctuations along with an ability to be more responsive to change.

Flexible windfarms can power down quickly, switching off at short notice to avoid overwhelming the grid. Hydropower also offers a solution, harnessing excess energy to pump water into lakes into order to effectively stem the flow of power to the grid. While battery storage is seeing increased investment, further work is needed before it provides a viable solution to storing sufficient energy to balance grid fluctuations. Yet, despite these measures and their ability to be more responsive to changing demand, there’s no denying that the increased prevalence of smaller, intermittent sources can themselves result in varying power outputs and instability in supply. The high frequencies caused by high supply coupled with low demand can be very damaging to the transmission and distribution infrastructure, making HV cables bulge and putting transformers and switchgear under greater strain, as power becomes greater than original directional flow design. This was already an issue in areas of major solar generation, such as the South West.
In ‘normal’ circumstances, the grid’s frequency control demand management programme would help to mitigate these fluctuations. Major commercial and industrial consumers are incentivised to scale back or rapidly ramp-up their consumption of power to balance peaks and troughs. While pre-agreeing this pattern is a plausible option, using it as a way to mitigate risk in times of crisis isn’t something that can easily be achieved. Very few businesses have processes that they can turn up quickly to increase demand to the grid and, with many of the UK’s high-intensity power consumers currently inactive due to shutdown, there’s a declining pool of candidates willing and able to do so.

The role of load banks
A load bank offers the perfect power consumption solution to the issue of oversupply, providing a fast-acting, safe, major energy user that can be easily “plugged” into the grid. In simple terms, they can be used to manage and shed power overloads in order to prevent damage. Excess energy can be diverted from the energy network and power lines into load banks, which can then be safely dissipated as hot air.

Load banks are designed to replicate, prove and verify the real-life demands on critical power systems. As such, they are most often used to test back-up power generators and back up power systems. With modern life absolutely reliant on electricity to power everything from our personal lives to our transport, our businesses to our hospitals, load banks have a critical role to play in ensuring continuity of supply. Their role in shedding and dissipating overloads is lesser-known. Yet, in testing times, none the less valid in terms of ensuring the UK has the power it needs – especially with critical infrastructure such as hospitals reliant on uninterrupted supplies.

Whilst load banks have only recently played a small part for balancing the grid, load bank rental offers a viable, immediate and temporary solution to the issue of oversupply. With stability of supply reliant on the grid keeping the frequency at 50hz, load banks can act as a pressure relief valve, making a discernible, safe and immediate difference in an emergency situation, mitigating the risks caused by oversupply and reducing the likelihood of the UK being left without power.

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