Rural community gets quiet sustainable power during utility company upgrades

Counties Energy has made commitments to decarbonisation and is making progress in reducing emissions across its operations through initiatives like adopting electric vehicles (EVs) and expanding EV charging infrastructure. The company is also starting to focus on initiatives to reduce emissions across its supply chain, including during grid maintenance and upgrades.

When Counties Energy set out to upgrade the rural powerline on Hillsview Road in the Auckland region to meet the area’s growing energy demands, they needed a solution that aligned with their sustainability goals. With a strong history of collaboration, they once again turned to Aggreko for a quieter, low-emission power solution. Leveraging our expertise in temporary power and hybrid solutions, we helped them minimise environmental impact while ensuring minimal disruption to the community during the upgrade process.

To meet Counties Energy’s requirements for sustainable, temporary power, Aggreko conducted a series of front-end studies using advanced mathematical modelling. By analysing the customer’s historical energy usage, we were able to simulate a hybrid power solution that would not only meet the energy demands but also deliver cost efficiencies compared to traditional diesel-only setups.

Based on these insights, Aggreko provided a 90kVA battery storage system supported by a 125kVA diesel generator with a 3,000L fuel tank. Despite the short duration of the hire and high energy needs, this configuration helped Counties Energy save 1472 litres of fuel and cut CO2 emissions by 3.9 tonnes compared to running on generator only*. The hybrid approach also offered a significant reduction in operational noise by limiting reliance on the diesel generator, which was running only 40% of the time, which ensured quieter conditions in the rural residential area.

*Generator only setup would require using 200kVA generator running at the similar load. 

By choosing a hybrid power solution, Counties Energy effectively reduced the noise impact typically associated with temporary power generation while ensuring a reliable, low-emission power supply for its customers.

Our solution aligned with the utility company’s decarbonisation goals, delivering sustainable power throughout the upgrade process. As a result, Counties Energy achieved quiet operation, lower emissions, and maximum cost savings, allowing essential grid upgrades to proceed with minimal disruption.