Peak Shaving: How to reduce power peaks with BESS

What is peak shaving?

Peak shaving means cutting power peaks in electricity consumption. Many industrial companies pay a large portion of their electricity bill based on the highest power peak during a month. By using a BESS to deliver energy during peaks, the demand charge can be dramatically reduced.

How does it work in practice?

The BESS monitors power consumption in real time. When consumption approaches a predefined threshold, the battery starts delivering power. This way, the draw from the grid never exceeds the limit and the demand charge stays low.

For a typical industrial facility owner paying 50–150 NOK/kW in demand charges, a reduction of 200–500 kW can lead to savings of 10,000–75,000 NOK per month.

Real-world example

A production facility in Norway with a peak demand of 800 kW installed a 250 kW / 500 kWh BESS. The peak demand was reduced to 550 kW, resulting in annual savings of over 400,000 NOK on grid charges alone.