Temporary Power: Keeping the Cold Chain from Breaking

The cold chain plays a vital role in the global production, trade and delivery of food and pharmaceutical commodities. The increasing market demand for safe, quality food and pharmaceutical products has heightened the importance of keeping them at the optimal temperature, from manufacturing to consumption. Food and pharmaceutical companies strive to ensure the integrity of their refrigerated products, yet real instances of temperature abuse along certain points of the cold chain threaten to compromise their safety and quality.

In the food industry, keeping products in refrigerated storage facilities is one of the most extensively practiced methods of controlling the growth of microbes in perishable or potentially hazardous foods. Although the microbial flora of food products is affected by many factors, the length of storage time and the temperature at which food commodities are kept have been proven to have the greatest impact on their safety and quality. Therefore, food manufacturing and storage companies, together with their allied entities like grocery stores and hypermarkets, have to constantly monitor and maintain the required temperatures throughout the food continuum – from processing to storage and distribution.

Over at the pharmaceutical front, manufacturers and health professionals around the world have striven to develop the pharmaceutical cold chain to ensure that critical medicines and vaccines, among other essential health-related requirements, are safely and readily available. Medical and pharmaceutical products, just like food, require constant temperature control throughout the production and distribution chain. Vaccines, for instance, are sensitive to both heat and cold, so they need to be kept at precise temperatures from manufacture to the point of use. Blood has to be properly refrigerated and stored to remain usable, while HIV rapid test kits, pediatric ARV drugs and other testing reagents must all be stored in climate controlled conditions to remain effective.

The real threat of power interruption and consumption limitation
The demand for electricity has been steadily increasing all around the world. Owing to the continuous growth in population, expansion of industrial activities and improvement in the standard of living, many countries have been seeing a remarkable spike in energy requirements, particularly during months of extreme temperatures and/or peak industrial production. While a surge in power demand may be indicative of an active and growing economy, it can rein in the economic and industrial progress of a country if the existing power infrastructure is not able to keep up with the electricity requirement – a scenario usually witnessed in emerging regions. When the electricity demand consistently outstrips the supply, power facilities may become overburdened, and, as a consequence, load shedding, electricity outage or total blackout may ensue.

The cold chain will be adversely affected by load shedding and regular power interruption. Without a constant and reliable supply of electricity, food and pharmaceutical manufacturing, storage and distribution facilities will find it challenging to maintain the optimal temperature required to deliver safe and quality products. Procedures carried out in the manufacture and storage of food and pharmaceutical products involve highly precise temperature requirements that even a momentary power outage will render an entire batch unsafe and unusable. When the quality and integrity of food and pharmaceuticals have been compromised, they will have to be disposed of than pose health risks to consumers, resulting in financial and operational losses in the area of millions of Dollars.

Food and pharmaceutical manufacturing, storage and distribution facilities have attempted to lobby for the exemption of their industries from load shedding or peak lopping. However, in light of a highly limited power supply, governments and utility providers have found it difficult to grant them their request, since any additional power supplied to the food and pharmaceutical industry would be at the expense of households or other industries.

Several food and pharmaceutical entities have endeavored to work around the problem by employing local electricity generation systems within their facilities. Unfortunately, the local power sources were not always able to sufficiently produce for the extent of the production load, and are thus incapable of supporting the operations of large-scale manufacturing, storage and distribution facilities.

Instances of load shedding, power interruption or consumption limitation can occur at any time, hence food and pharmaceutical facilities will need large-scale supplemental or back-up power systems that will be able to generate the required electricity at any given moment. They will find benefit in employing power generation systems that will seamlessly supply power to their industrial operations as soon as the electricity from the grid is interrupted, so temperature abuse at any point of the cold chain can be averted. When the safety and integrity of food and pharmaceuticals are ensured, consumers will be spared from health risks, and companies will be able to run operations as usual and avoid losing millions in revenue.

The benefits of rental power to the cold chain
When the power supply is unstable, and when instances of power interruption are unpredictable, food and pharmaceutical companies can find huge benefits in espousing a proactive stance and hiring the services of temporary power providers. Electricity plays an undeniably vital role in the climate control of production, storage and distribution facilities, and rental power plants can provide the necessary electricity without the need for food and pharmaceutical companies to spend scarce CAPEX. Instead of pouring a sizeable initial investment in permanent power infrastructure (which can take several years to complete) or in local power generation systems (which cannot always guarantee the precise amount of electricity required by large-scale facilities), food and pharmaceutical companies can pay for the electricity produced by hired power plants from their operating revenues. During peak production seasons, food and pharmaceutical companies will also be able to add power modules that will increase the rental power plant’s generation capacity.

The large-scale rental generators that make up the temporary power plant are modular and containerized, and can be rapidly delivered to and installed anywhere in the world, and can support the requirement of even the largest production, storage or distribution facilities. They are fully able to function even in remote locations, and in sites where traditional power infrastructure is outdated, damaged or absent.

The investment required to set up a rental power plant has been proven to be marginal compared to the cost of foregone opportunities, wasted man-hours, discarded products or lost lives.

Keeping the cold chain intact
The safety and quality of food and pharmaceutical products largely depend on the integrity of the cold chain. Instances of temperature abuse at any point of the cold chain could bring about serious health risks to consumers and calamitous financial and operational losses to food and pharmaceutical companies. In times of load shedding, peak lopping or unpredicted blackouts, rental power plants, either as a stand-alone solution or support to conventional or local power systems, can guarantee a reliable and continuous supply of electricity, so food and pharmaceutical manufacturing, storage and distribution can conduct business as usual.

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Altaaqa Global
Tel: +971 56 1749505
rbagatsing@altaaqaglobal.com

Rental Power Plants: Providing Reliable Electricity to the Mining Industry

A persistent shortage and instability in the supply of power around the world, in some instances for reasons beyond any party’s control, has pushed many countries and mining operators to agree to reduce power supply to mining sites. The electricity supply insufficiency and the consequent load shedding, on top of increasing overhead costs and continuously weakening commodity prices, have driven mining companies in different regions to scale down or suspend operations altogether.

“Some parts of mining operations will be halted or scaled back to cope with the regular power cuts,” say an industry player. “Electricity,” he adds, “is not only utilized in the actual mining and processing, but also in maintenance. So, we are particularly preoccupied about our old underground mines, because there power is an exceedingly high overhead cost.” He believes that with the way things are going at the present, the immediate solution to save the business is to lay off workers, by the thousands.

Some entities have tried surmounting the challenge by importing power from their neighboring countries. But while it is not a guarantee of a continuous power supply, introducing power from other countries have led to an increased cost of running mining operations, owing to higher electricity prices.

Some operators have installed local power generation systems to support the supply of electricity to the mining sites, but their power production is not always enough to run the energy-intensive processes of a large-scale mining operations, including exploration, production, and climate control.

In times of persistent power shortage, mining companies will find hiring the services of temporary power providers beneficial to their operations. It is undeniable that electricity plays an essential role in mining operations, and renting large-scale power plants can guarantee a constant supply of reliable power to mining sites, without the need to spend scarce CAPEX in building permanent power facilities. In these difficult times for the industry, mining companies will appreciate the fact that they can pay for the electricity produced by hired power plants from their operating revenues. Mining companies can also choose to add power modules to the rental power plants as their operations expand and their requirement for electricity increase.

Rental power plants are not only reliable, they are fuel efficient and have less impact on the environment. Modern rental generators boast of cleaner operations, being able to run on a variety of fuels, including natural gas or a combination of gas and diesel. Studies conducted in different rental power plants sites around the world show that temporary power stations, like those running on natural gas, can surpass the worldwide NOx emission requirements, emitting only 250 mg/Nm3 even without after treatment.

The present times have not been favorable to the mining industry. Mining companies, established and start-ups alike, are struggling to maintain a profitable production, and this has resulted in job loss and limited expenditure. A reliable and consistent supply of electricity is one key solution to the survival and development of mining operations against the backdrop of these trying times, and rental power plants represent a technology that can guarantee just that.

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Altaaqa Global
Tel: +971 56 1749505
rbagatsing@altaaqaglobal.com

Will the world be thirsty for energy?

In an era when engineering has pushed the envelope of production possibilities, the challenge may no longer be to attain greater heights, but rather to promote the longevity and viability of limited resources, like water.  

Back in the days when economies were organic, production depended on land, labor and capital. The latter two were capable of indefinite expansion, but land was limited. Almost all basic necessities in an organic economy – supply of food and raw materials that entered into production – depended on a finite resource that was land. Hence, the early humans were faced with a conundrum: Expanding material production would mean obtaining greater volume of produce from land, but that, in turn, would lead to the cultivation of land of inferior quality or to the use of existing land more intensively. When this situation persists, returns to both capital and labor would diminish. 

Classical economist, Adam Smith succinctly states the problem, spelling out its implications on the living standards of the population and on the return on capital (1789):

“In a country which had acquired that full complement of riches which the nature of its soil and climate, and its situation with respect to other countries, allowed it to acquire; which could, therefore, advance no further, and which was not going backwards, both the wages of labor and the profit of stock would probably be very low.”

David Ricardo, another classical economist, supported Adam Smith, and said that the resulting situation “will necessarily be rendered permanent by the laws of nature, which have limited the productive powers of the land”.

Have we overcome limitations?

Fast forward to today’s world…. 

The days of the organic economy have sailed, and the industrial revolution has powered production to a whole new level. Countries are now experiencing unprecedented growth patterns, and almost all sectors of the society and of the economy are dependent on electrical power to operate. Humanity has indeed made great strides to reach the era where it is now.  

But in this day and age of exceptional production capabilities, one truth has not changed, which still calls Smith and Ricardo to mind: Each country only has a limited amount of sources that it can acquire, and once obtained, the consumption will yield permanent effects by virtue of the laws of nature. This declaration may mean that the very process of growth as we know it implies that it cannot be sustained indefinitely. As growth depends on finite assets to persist, every increase in production will entail an equivalent escalation in consumption and destruction of resources. 

This hypothesis is no more evident than in these days. A recent study circulated by Aarhus University in Denmark predicts that if the current global power consumption pattern continues, there would not be enough water in the world to meet the demand by 2040. As water is used in different methods of power generation, increasing energy demand results in a proportional spike in the requirement for water. Therefore, experts are now suggesting that in order to curb the recession of the world’s water supply, current electricity generation procedures should evolve into approaches that do not need water to run. 

It seems, however, that humanity does not have the luxury of a 27-year deadline…. The same research adds that the effects of the continued rise in energy demand could be felt in some areas as early as in 2020. An estimated 30%-40% of the world will experience scarcity and lack of access to clean drinking water in 2020, and climate change is predicted to render its effects worse. 

The fact that the amount of the world’s water reserves is receding will not only put drinking water consumption in jeopardy but also the capability of power plants to produce electricity for generations to come.   

How to avert a power-water paradox

In order to mitigate the negative effects of power generation on the world’s water reserves, experts recommend turning to renewable sources of energy, like wind and solar. This makes perfect sense in the context of Smith and Ricardo’s scenario described above: Limitations will only exist if production is anchored on finite resources. Therefore, if one substitutes this factor with an infinite resource, restraints would cease to be, and growth could be sustained indefinitely. 

To date, there have been several countries in the world that have adopted initiatives to increase their renewable energy input in the coming decades. Germany, for instance, has set ambitious goals of boosting renewable energy to 35% of the country’s entire energy mix by 2020, and to 80% by 2050. Scandinavian countries have also established similar objectives. In the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates, for example, have recently inaugurated a large-scale solar power plant within the outskirts of Dubai, and has announced its subsequent extension in years to come. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has also been leading the research and development efforts in terms of renewable energy. 

That there are countries embracing the call for evolving energy generation processes has been documented, and more newly developed and, even, developing countries are following suit. One truth, however, cannot be taken out of the picture: Renewable energy systems, like wind and solar plants, are constantly developing and, at best, are experiencing a nascent upturn in terms of acceptance and technological innovation. As with any other systems, solar and wind farms still have room for improvement and may find benefits in the support of other equipment. Moreover, as renewable systems are powered by nature-driven energies, it may be challenging to predict their performance and have them deliver the same amount of continuous energy as traditional power plants.

As renewable energy engineers perfect wind and solar technologies, temporary power plants could support these systems by providing supplementary power to the areas where they operate. For instance, when wind energy facilities experience unstable production due to the unpredictability of wind, rental power plants may be able to assist in stabilizing the supply, so end-users may not experience power interruptions or blackouts. Rental power plants are equipped with technologies that can guarantee an immediate response at the outset of a supply instability from renewable facilities.

Case-in point, interim energy facilities are infused with fast-start systems that allows them to supply power at the shortest time possible. They are also adaptable enough to ascertain the exact need of the users, and flexible enough to allow for ramp-ups or scale-down of energy supply depending on the situation. They also represent a cost- and time-efficient alternative to building permanent power plants for the purposes of supporting renewable energy systems. 

Onwards to a greener future

In light of the grim repercussions that the present energy-water predicament may bring in the near future, the need to find suitable alternative sources of energy is heightened. But as one may predict, the perfection and the adoption of technologies cannot happen overnight nor in a span of few years. There are numerous factors involved in shifting a paradigm, and for a technology to gain traction, all variables involved should agree to head to the same direction. 

While experts are looking into the improvement of renewable energy generation facilities, these systems may find merit in tapping the support of other stable technologies, like rental generators. As the world transitions to alternative power generation processes, the need of the hour may not be to look for one method to dominate or overthrow another: What is essential to is find a balanced energy mix – traditional, renewable and temporary – where sources complement each other to create a system that will be capable of providing the most sustainable and stable electricity supply possible.

Human engineering has made it possible to work around limitations to production. Humans have found a way to transition from an economy largely dependent on muscle power and animal strength, to one run by steam and coal, to one anchored on petroleum, oil & gas and electrical energy. Now, in an era when engineering has pushed the envelope of production possibilities, the challenge may no longer be to attain greater heights, but rather to promote the longevity and viability of limited resources, like water.  

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PRESS INQUIRIES

Robert Bagatsing

Altaaqa Global

Tel: +971 56 1749505

rbagatsing@altaaqaglobal.com