TESVOLT Storage Comes to Oktoberfest

At the Tradition beer tent, the name says it all. Here, guests can look forward to a brass band, groups dressed in traditional costume and, of course, lots of beer – alongside classic Bavarian fare such as roast pork and chicken. The tent requires a great deal of power, consuming some 200,000 kWh at each year’s Oktoberfest. Around 70 % of the power consumption originates in the kitchen, which caters for just over 8,000 guests at peak times. The rest is attributed to lighting and patio heaters, which have to be electric given the risk of fire.

As is often the case in the catering trade, the tent also struggles with load management – that is, spreading the electrical loads across different times of day to avoid current spikes. Consumption by guests – and therefore the use of the tent’s kitchen – is constantly high, requiring industrial dishwashers, grills and cooking appliances to operate almost non-stop. It is not unusual, therefore, to see consumption peaks of over 700 kilowatts. Until now, these peaks were served from the utility grid, but the quantity of power that the energy supplier keeps in reserve for consumption peaks costs business operators a lot of money, with demand rates reaching over EUR 160 per kW. If a storage system were to provide the power instead of drawing it from the grid, the tent operators could benefit from significantly lower grid charges and thus greatly reduce their electricity procurement costs.

Requirements for a storage solution:

• High-performance storage system with a high depth of discharge and many guaranteed cycles for a sustainable and long-lasting investment
• Easy installation and high operational reliability in a busy environment
• Suitable for outdoor use, as there is no space in the tent