Post: Ardagh Wins Best Sustainability Innovation at International Beverage Awards for Hybrid Battery & DSR Network Project

Ardagh Glass, global leaders in food and drink packaging, won Best Sustainability Innovation at the International Beverage Awards held in Japan on 27th June. The high end glass manufacturer was selected for the award for their hybrid battery and demand side response (DSR) project with GridBeyond and ESB.

The project consisted of 3 core elements, Ardagh’s on-site energy intensive assets, ESB’s battery installation and financing expertise, and GridBeyond’s sophisticated technology platform, connecting Ardagh to their hybrid battery and demand network.

The technology manages the site demand against the battery use, meaning an increased level of on-site flexibility. The technology typically results in a much lower capital outlay for I&C clients (as a much smaller battery can be used to gain the same flexibility benefits as a larger battery), delivery of greater system benefit, and therefore greater returns. Clients are seeing the flexibility of their on-site assets increase by over 65% when connected to GridBeyond’s system, which is on top of the flexibility levels usually able to participate in such programmes.

Sustainability pioneers in the manufacturing industry, Ardagh Group, already participated in DSR and energy optimisation with GridBeyond and were keen to be the first to install a behind-the-meter battery on the network at the end of 2017. This kick-started the evolution into the hybrid era.

Annelene Fisser, Group CSR & Sustainability Manager, Ardagh Group, commented:

“We are committed to environmental responsibility and sustainable manufacturing processes and had been exploring battery storage solutions to help us effectively meet these commitments. When GridBeyond approached us with its hybrid battery and DSR offering, we felt confident that this would provide the efficient and cost effective solution we were looking for, which it has now successfully delivered.”

Bishwa Giri, Energy Manager for Glass Europe at Ardagh Group, made clear his thoughts on the project and why Ardagh originally chose to partner with GridBeyond over two years ago:

“To be recognised for a sustainability initiative makes Ardagh very proud.”

“Sustainability and energy management are extremely important to Ardagh. As part of GridBeyond’s hybrid battery and demand side network, we are able to reduce our reliance on the Grid during peak times, and fundamentally help the UK to meet its renewable generation goals.”

“GridBeyond’s technical expertise and drive to innovate are the reasons we chose to start working with them on initial demand side response projects. Their ability to drive energy technology forward, met with Ardagh’s objective to use technology to pave the way in manufacturing sustainability, meant the partnership made perfect sense.”