What Peak Shaving Is and Why It Matters
Most commercial electricity bills have two main components.
The unit charge — what you pay per kWh of electricity consumed.
And the demand charge — a cost calculated from your peak consumption during a billing period, typically based on your highest half-hourly meter reading in a given month.
Demand charges can represent 20 to 40 percent of a commercial energy bill. They are determined not by how much electricity you use overall, but by the brief periods when you use the most. A manufacturing process that runs at full capacity for 30 minutes, an air conditioning system that kicks in simultaneously across a large building, or a vehicle charging bank that charges multiple EVs at once — each creates a demand spike that affects the charge for the entire billing period.
Peak shaving uses a battery storage system to discharge at these moments of high demand, limiting the peak reading and reducing the demand charge. The battery is recharged during low-demand periods. The effect on the energy bill can be significant and is directly measurable.
Renewable Industry Certifications
Where Peak Shaving with a Battery Storage System Delivers Value
Manufacturing and Industrial
Production processes, machinery start-up loads and compressed air systems create predictable demand spikes. Peak shaving battery systems can be configured to anticipate and smooth these spikes, reducing demand charges on energy-intensive manufacturing operations.
Commercial Buildings
HVAC systems, lift motor loads and catering equipment in commercial offices, hotels and retail create demand peaks that drive charges. A building energy management system combined with battery storage can manage these peaks automatically.
EV Charging Fleets
Multiple vehicles charging simultaneously creates significant demand spikes. A battery buffer system charges from the grid or from solar PV at a controlled rate and supplies the EV charge points, preventing charging activity from driving demand charges.
How SPI Approaches Peak Shaving With Battery Storage System Design
Effective peak shaving requires accurate analysis of your consumption profile before any system is specified. The battery must be sized correctly — large enough to cover the demand spike, small enough to be rechargeable before the next peak event — and the control system must be configured to respond at the right moment.
SPI analyses your half-hourly consumption data to identify when demand spikes occur, how large they are, how predictable they are and whether they are driven by a single load or multiple simultaneous events. This analysis determines the battery capacity required, the inverter specification, the control logic and the expected reduction in demand charges.
Where solar PV is also in place, peak shaving and solar self-consumption optimisation can be managed by the same system, with the battery dispatch logic balancing both objectives. SPI designs for both where relevant.
The financial case for peak shaving is typically straightforward to model once the consumption data is available. SPI presents a clear projection of demand charge reduction alongside any unit cost savings before any commitment is made.
