Tag: energy services

energy services

Energy Services Companies Are Thriving Once Again

March 28, 2022 /

Undoubtedly one of the fastest growing sectors of the gas and oil arena is energy providers. An energy service company (ESCO) is a business that boasts a wide range of energy services including designs and implementation of energy savings jobs, retrofitting, energy conservation, energy infrastructure freelancing, power generation and energy sources, and risk assessment. The ideal objective of every ESCO is always to deliver noticeable savings in energy costs by providing energy audits and assessments and effectively making processes much more efficient in regards to energy rates.

Based on past stories and headlines out of energy media websites, going to 2022 we are set to see historic high big oil prices. The concern being though is the fact that there are numerous governments with their unique agenda that conflicts with progression in the oil centered energy industry. In Canada albeit there are a handful of provinces and regions with oil reserves, none have more than that of Alberta. The province has 39% of Canada’s remaining oil reserves.

ENERGY SERVICES 2 300x225 - Energy Services Companies Are Thriving Once AgainIt has become very clear that the new normal post COVID19 is forcing firms to examine their business models and adapt consequently. Technology has a considerable function in the energy market and as such ESCOs have adapted to service this now technologically progressed vertical.

It is fairly unknown outside of the sector however energy prices and efficiency can be refined and for that matter that is the primary mission for most energy service company. Deregulation of the energy sector in the 1990’s was the catalyst that propelled the surge of energy service firms. Now they are customary within many organizations which include municipalities, school districts, industrial jobs and commercial markets.

In 2006 the trade group NAESCO stated energy service firms increased by 22% and stated $2.6 billion in revenue marking a paramount moment for ESCOs through the country. In Canada the popularity of energy service companies also grew significantly mostly in the oil abundant province of Alberta.

There are a large number of types of energy service organizations which include but not limited to: meter testing and proving, industrial mobile boilers, fuel flare venting, sampling and analysis, shutdowns and turnarounds, industrial cleaning and plenty of other energy providers. But why bore (no pun intended) you with the particulars of all of them.

Energy procurement providers also play a vital role in the management of energy costs with the milestone of decreasing expenses and making efficiency a top priority in most organizations. The central focus of energy consultants should be to save their customer dough by negotiating energy prices and making current operations more energy-efficient. Setting a baseline before starting on any energy cost savings effort is a key factor to any energy management service. Energy consultants use a defined start task which should be to perform a wholesale and thorough energy audit to be later applied as a measurement of future energy cost savings. Commonly you will find the energy consultancy firm operating jointly with managers inside any organization they’re contracted by. This permits for brisk decisive decisions. It really is important to grasp the importance of immediate access to decision makers when reporting on energy finances and in particular when negotiating prices.

Field energy service providers firms offer a wide array of solutions this includes meter proving, sampling and analysis, electrical and instrumentation, vegetation management, automation and controls and even software solutions. Overall though we’re on the cusp of a paradigm shift within this sector due largely in part to the pandemic that has gripped the world over the past 6 months.

We spoke with Branden Bodah, an operations executive with Barton Energy providers and here’s what he had to say.

“The energy vertical has seen many hits over time and if I’m to be truthful, though this pathogen is damaging and in a wholesale way, the sector will bounce back. Our corporation as an example has used the past couple months to strategize on how we wish to go forward in 2021.”

Turnaround services is one more aspect to the assortment of service providers by energy service professionals which entails project management during the course of operational shutdowns of factories at the time of maintenance. This kind of service can entail numerous other service providers within it including mobile boiler rentals, measurement, meter testing and others. Based on the scale of the project, these contracts in most cases last from two to four weeks.

Market guidelines and government and industry regulations are the primary backbone to which all energy service organizations must function. Not all energy service organizations are the same however they do share similar goals one among them being decreasing energy spending.

Ahead of COVID-19 we had already begun to see utility firms begin to reinvent themselves and make  themselves more pertinent by bundling services you might not of previous thought they could offer. Things like internet providers now offering bundles with TV and home phone on top of the internet service. In Canada we commonly see energy providers partnering with government so they’ll be able to further broaden their scope with customers this includes the prominent gas company in Canada named Enbridge, Enbridge has worked diligently to extend their providers and products to capture more of the energy consumer sector. This phenomena was the inception of the current energy provider reinventing itself as a twin pack offer both the solutions like a utility company and the energy itself.

You’re probably asking yourself that if this truly is transpiring then wouldn’t that make private energy services companies obsolete? If there is any takeaway from reading this is that energy solutions companies are going to be with us for the foreseeable future and adapting to whatever the world brings its way.

meter proving

Meter Proving: A Deep Dive

November 3, 2020 /

Meter proving occurs where a “prover” checks and confirms the precision of a meter irrespective of whether computerized, also known as SMART technology, or analog.  The aspects for meter proving also, the envisioned outcome, can vary as per the diverse  kinds of meters making use of distinct attributes. As an example, a gas meter prover samples the accuracy and reliability for gas meters. Meter proving essentially depends on the validation or meter factor prover that is the measure utilized for checking the distinction somewhere between the meter’s outcome with a pre-calculated array.

It might seem that meter proving and meter testing are one in the same – well they’re not – here is the distinctions somewhere between both.

Meter proving is a process for identifying a modification issue (i.e. a meter factor) to readjust the measured quantities for errors because of setup and functional impacts. NIST or The National Institute of Standards and technologies, hosts a great deal of important information in their databases that meter proving techs could obtain and evaluate their results from whatever meter they’ve been testing. Proving meters of hydrocarbon is widespread among pipelines. oftentimes provers will coordinate with meter station workers to do a comparison of outcomes.

meter proving vs testing 1024x555 - Meter Proving: A Deep DiveDespite the fact that meter testing has been around for over 100 years the equivalent standard is present nowadays as it did all those years ago. This is why testing via this method is sensitive to numerous different variations and insecurities.

Our experienced meter proving professionals pride themselves in providing only the most accurate and reliable readings in the industry. – Dale J of Intricate Group

Gas provers verify gas meters considering that they are definitely the most prevalent. City and public works are unequivocally the the majority of prevalent employers of meter provers. Provers work by moving a known amount of air through a meter while tracking the gas meters register, index, or central displacement. The  prover subsequently presents a proof, a valuation shown as a percent which compares the volume of air passed with the volume of air measured to ascertain the meter’s precision.

The bell is fundamentally a vertical inside container with an external protective exterior. There’s two tiers and while the outside layer is regularly loaded with oil, the interior layer is known as the bell. The liquid can behave as the airtight seal for testing. Bell provers are frequently counterweighted to offer positive pressure through a line and valve fastened to a meter. We frequently see casters on the bell that allows soft linear movement with no danger of endangering the strain produced by the bell seal moving.

Bells provide a volume of air which has been predetermined by measurement and regulatory stated temperature  pressure levels and the effective diameter of the bell. Bell scales are distinct to each and every bell and are generally attached vertically which includes a needle-like pointer. where proving a meter with a manually controlled bell, an operator ought to initially fill the bell with a controlled air supply or bring up it manually by cracking open a valve and tugging a chained mechanism, seal the bell and meter and inspect the sealed system for leakage, calculate the flow rate needed for the meter, apply a special flow-rate cap on the meter outlet, observe the starting points of equally the bell scale and meter index, release the bell valve to pass air through the meter, monitor the meter index and calculate the time necessary to move the predetermined quantity of air, and then manually calculate the meter’s proof accountancy for bell air and meter temperature and in some cases other external facets.

While we stated before, each meter and gas type has its own way of testing. When testing a natural gas meter you have to first visually inspect numerous things prior to conducting any automation. There are lots of different techniques of testing including gas quality.  In conclusion meter testing never compares data to a primary reference device. There’s one exception to the rule nonetheless and that is the orifice meter testing. This system does demand testing against a primary reference.

In the present day we have advanced and include vacuum driven provers which has the means to supply us with really legitimate flow data. Moreover these enhancements eliminated the need for a bell in testing as everything may perhaps be done through the nozzles. When sufficient vacuum is applied to a sonic nozzle it creates a constant flow rate. Bernoulli’s principle is applied to calculate the chosen flow rates chosen by the user or computerized by a computer. Computers and PAC systems automate the process, and many sonic nozzle provers are efficient at displaying not only meter proofs to a user, but are also capable of transmitting proofs as well as Some other important data to database components throughout a computer network.

Energy Services: Fastest Growth Sector in Energy Markets

October 21, 2020 /

A fast growth sector in the energy sector is the ESCO (Energy Service Company). An energy service company (ESCO) are providers that offers a diverse range of energy solutions which include plans and implementation of energy cost savings jobs, retrofitting, energy conservation, energy infrastructure outsourcing, power creation and energy sources, and risk management. An energy service company (ESCO) is a company that boasts wide-ranging energy solutions to its clients, which includes auditing, redesigning and developing modifications to the ways the client consumes energy, the main end goal being much better efficiency.

From their inception in the 1980s, energy service organizations have evolved and expanded. Since COVID enveloped the world we’ve seen probably the most radical modifications to this sector while trying to remain relevant. Modern technology has performed a key role in the progress of the energy providers industry.

energy services img1 1024x561 - Energy Services: Fastest Growth Sector in Energy MarketsMainly energy service providers give attention to cutting down on energy usage and saving organizations on energy rates by a range of techniques including moderating energy usage and discount rate agreements regarding energy procurement companies. In the 1990’s with deregulation we observed the rise of energy service companies then circumstances slowed throughout the Obama administration we observed reversals of regulations merely to again be deregulated by the current President Donald Trump. Now they are customary amongst many organizations such as municipalities, school districts, industrial jobs and commercial verticals.

The huge differences between the Republican led government of the U.S. and the left of Canada is drastic where one is convinced in extensive deregulations while the other controls the energy sector to the point of suffocation.

Each energy service company is different in their own technological specializations whereas others address the entire assortment of service  like  lighting, HVAC, piping, meter proving, sampling and analysis, instrumentation and others. While there are numerous different service within this sector, something they all share is an intrinsic tie to the market in general.

One of the more popular energy services is the one of energy management. Energy management firms are progressively more prevalent as energy prices go up. Energy consulting organizations fixate on one thing…budgeting by streamlining businesses from an energy expenditure viewpoint. Setting up a base line before starting on any energy cost savings commitment is an important element to any energy management company. This delivers a structure of existing energy consumption which sets out to ascertain reference points so the energy management consultant can exhibit any future savings. The rewards of operating directly with top organizational directors is that when a determination must be made its made at that moment. For this reason energy consultants work along side and are accountable to, business executives. Whilst energy management firms work singularly of the organization employing them, it is a reality that energy consultants work close with managers for many reasons.

Of the plethora of different service providers available, some may include shutdown service providers, new plant fabrication, fuel flare venting, well service and chemical cleanup to name a few. As to be expected across much of the world, coronavirus has forced the industry to rediscover itself and therefore we are now seeing many providers adapt to this “new normal”.

We spoke with Ellis Boon, an operations executive with Lightspeed Energy service providers and here’s what he had to say.

“Honestly it concerns me with what around the corner for the energy markets in Canada. With political trepidation and the risk of a resurrection of COVID-19 we are all susceptible to the governments of the world.”

Energy services companies oftentimes utilize performance contracting, meaning that if the project does not provide ROI, the energy service provider is accountable to cover the difference, thus assuring their clients of the energy and cost cost savings.

Since its inception in the 90’s, a single US governmental program called “Super-ESPC” (ESPC stands for Energy Savings Performance Contracts) has-been responsible for $2.9B in energy service company contracts. With it being renewed and modified in late 2008 they’ve granted 16 providers with what’s regarded as Indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity or IDIQ contracts priced at over $5 billion each on average. The company of energy service often means many things but the one commonality with them all is the common end goal of lowering energy expenses and making current systems more economical.

Energy utility providers started to advance before the pandemic when they started to see the implicit benefit in bundling different service jointly like telephone, internet and TV. But yet more than that you now see utility providers additionally providing home and commercial alarms and smart home solutions. It has become common in the United States and Canada that energy providers are now featuring bundled service like home phone, TV and internet but actually there’s way more of this going on in the B2B side while public surveillance and security systems are also being presented. From a simply economic/company view this marriage of utility company and service company is brilliance.

You’re probably asking yourself that if this truly is happening then wouldn’t that make private ESCOs obsolescent? Still we wish that 2021 brings much good fortune to the energy sector and we can look back at 2020 as a year of lessons.