Retail and supermarket · Electricity
Electricity in retail and supermarket: what the SRI measures
This domain covers the building's electricity management: batteries, solar panels, shifting consumption to cheap hours, reporting to users and responding to grid signals. It is the core of energy flexibility.
In short
- 1This page shows how retail stores and supermarkets score on the Electricity domain within the Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI).
- 2This domain carries significant weight for this building type: 2 of the 3 weighting factors, driven notably by refrigerated cabinets, lighting, and charging points in car parks.
- 3Services in this domain cover solar power generation, battery storage, demand management, and user reporting.
Weight of this domain for this building type
Which services count
| Service | Lowest level | Highest level | Advice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reporting information regarding local electricity generation E-2 · A · 5 levels | None | Performance evaluation including forecasting and/or benchmarking; also including predictive management and fault detection | level 2 or higher |
| Storage of (locally generated) electricity E-3 · A · 5 levels | None | On site storage of energy (e.g. electric battery or thermal storage) with controller optimising the use of locally generated electricity and possibility to feed back into the grid | level 2 or higher |
| Optimizing self-consumption of locally generated electricity E-4 · 4 levels | None | Automated management of local electricity consumption based on current and predicted energy needs and renewable energy availability | – |
| Control of combined heat and power plant (CHP) E-5 · 3 levels | CHP control based on scheduled runtime management and/or current heat energy demand | CHP runtime control influenced by the fluctuating availability of RES and grid signals; dynamic charging and runtime control to optimise self-consumption of renewables | – |
| Support of (micro)grid operation modes E-8 · 4 levels | None | Automated management of (building-level) electricity consumption and supply, with potential to continue limited off-grid operation (island mode) | – |
| Reporting information regarding energy storage E-11 · A · 5 levels | None | Performance evaluation including forecasting and/or benchmarking; also including predictive management and fault detection | level 2 or higher |
| Reporting information regarding electricity consumption E-12 · A · 5 levels | None | Real-time feedback or benchmarking on appliance level with automated personalized recommendations | level 2 or higher |
Worked example
If everything in this domain is at level 0, the domain contributes nothing. At the highest level for all services, the indicative total score for this building type rises by about 4 percentage points (from 33 to 37 percent, with all other domains at level 1).
Why does electricity carry significant weight for retail stores and supermarkets?
Retail stores and supermarkets have different consumption patterns than residential or office buildings. Fixed opening hours make it straightforward to shift consumption to specific times. Lighting is often the largest power expense, and supermarkets additionally operate refrigerated cabinets that demand continuous energy and release waste heat.
Because of these characteristics, the Electricity domain (E) for this building type carries 2 of the 3 weighting factors within the Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI). This means the score in this domain has relatively significant influence on the building's overall SRI score.
Which smart-ready services fall under this domain?
The Electricity domain covers services related to power generation, storage, and management. For retail stores and supermarkets, this includes reporting of local electricity generation (E-2), electricity storage (E-3), and optimisation of own consumption of locally generated electricity (E-4).
The domain also includes services for cogeneration (E-5), support for microgrid modes (E-8), reporting on energy storage (E-11), and reporting on electricity consumption (E-12). Each service has functionality levels from 0 to 4, where level 0 represents no functionality and higher levels represent automated management based on current and predicted data.
For a store with a charging facility, services around storage and own consumption are particularly relevant. Battery storage can, for example, retain solar power generated during the day for use during peak hours for cooling and lighting.
What does a higher level mean in practice?
A higher functionality level means more automation and greater integration with external signals, such as the electricity grid. At level 1, for instance, there is only time-based demand scheduling. At level 3, the system automatically adjusts consumption based on the current and predicted availability of renewable energy.
For buildings with building automation and control system (BACS) power above 290 kilowatts, BACS is already mandatory under the EPBD (Energy Performance of Buildings Directive). For supermarkets with large refrigeration installations, this power threshold may be exceeded, depending on the building's configuration.
What this means for you
- Owner
- As the owner of a retail store or supermarket, it is worthwhile to consider management of cooling, lighting, and any battery storage, since this domain carries significant weight in the SRI score. A higher score can contribute to a more favourable energy label and lower energy costs through better use of locally generated power.
- Tenant
- As a tenant of retail premises, you will notice little directly from the technology behind these services, but you will benefit from more stable energy costs and fewer disruptions from peaks in electricity consumption. In a supermarket, smart management of refrigerated cabinets can also help maintain more consistent temperatures in the store.
- Advisor
- When assessing retail stores and supermarkets, it is important to verify that cooling, lighting, and any charging points have been included in the scoring of this domain, given their share of total consumption. Also note the BACS power, as this determines whether the building already falls under the existing obligation in Article 13 of the EPBD.
Next step
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