Half-Hourly Data FAQ

We sat down with our Commercial Manager, Nick Provost, to discuss half-hourly (HH) data. From its definition to its practical applications and the reasons behind its importance, we explore every facet of HH data and its role in shaping our energy management strategies.

What is half-hourly data?

If you have a big enough electricity consumption, rather than your electricity consumption being monitored with monthly meter readings, your electricity consumption will be monitored during each half-hourly period. This provides consumers with many more possibilities to monitor their usage more closely, identify trends and determine the most cost-effective energy-saving solutions.

What does half-hourly data look like?

Half-hourly data is often provided as a data file compatible with Microsoft Excel with 17,520 data points covering a complete 12-month period.

Why is it important for an energy savings scheme?

As Balance Power concentrate on schemes that generate clean, green, net-zero compatible electricity, we need the half-hourly information to help ensure that the generation scheme proposed aligns well with the site demand. This ensures that enough generated electricity will be self-consumed by the client to maximise the value of the generation. If the system is incorrectly developed, too much of the electricity will be exported which provides much less value to the user, impacting the financial return.

What will you do with the data?

We will take your data and put it into our energy modelling software, allowing us to determine the correctly selected system that will meet your needs. We do not need to understand the on-site processes that drive the consumption, it is only the extent of the consumption that matters.

How do I get half-hourly data?

If you have a big enough supply, your electricity supplier will be able to provide this data for you if you contact them. If your supplier has an online portal, you may be able to download the data yourself. However, one key thing to ensure you must get the right data is the MPAN for the connection which will be on the applicable electricity invoice. If you wish, you can sign a Letter of Authority that will provide Balance Power with permission to collect the data from your supplier on your behalf.

Do you need a full 12 months’ worth of data?

To ensure that all aspects of seasonality (e.g. summer and Christmas holidays etc) are considered within the proposed solution, we would ideally need 12 months of continuous data. Minor adjustments can be allowed if a small portion of the data is missing but if large parts of the data are missing then we can do a provisional analysis with the intent of finalising the system once the complete dataset is available.

We are likely to change the way we work; will this impact your analysis?

Any half-hourly data that you provide is presumed to be representative of your future energy demand. If you are aware of any possible changes, please let us know so we can make the appropriate adjustments to the data to ensure the proposed solution is future-proofed as best as possible.

Do you need anything else?

If all we have is the half-hourly consumption data, we are still able to present a proposal based on typical industry assumptions. However, additional information such as knowing the strategic drivers for the project as well as your utility tariffs would allow a degree of fine-tuning to the analysis, but provision of this information would be optional.