Major UK supermarket chain J Sainsbury is to pioneer a power demand response pilot programme at two of its distribution centres.
UK demand response company KiWi Power has designed an energy management programme that will enable power consumption at the two sites distribution centres to be temporarily reduced during times of grid stress. In return, National Grid will pay for these demand reductions, which provides J Sainsbury with a new revenue stream for managing its energy consumption more intelligently.
The pilot at the two Sainsbury’s distribution centres is taking place at the Hams Hall depot, near Birmingham and the Waltham Point depot on the outskirts of London.
The results of the pilot in operational and financial terms are being reviewed and it is anticipated that the demand response solution will be rolled out across more depots.
Allen Macadam, Sainsbury’s logistics change project manager, said: “We are pleased to be at the forefront of this pilot programme with KiWi Power. Not only are we able to help reduce our carbon footprint, but we have also been able to reduce our energy costs. There has also been no change to the day-to-day operation within the pilot depots and we have managed to implement the solution without requiring any investment”.