Industrial facilities are adopting more scalable, resilient electrical infrastructure to support growing power demands, automation and long-term operational flexibility.
Electrical, power and lighting insights
- Scalable electrical systems, microgrids and backup power solutions are improving resiliency while supporting future manufacturing growth.
- Early utility coordination, detailed load analysis and flexible power distribution are helping facilities adapt to higher electrical demands.
Respondents:
- Darren Rogge, Principal, Jordan & Skala Engineers Inc., Norcross, Georgia
- Michael P. Walsh, PE, LEED AP, Senior Director of Industrial, IMEG, Cincinnati
Are there any issues unique to designing electrical and power systems for manufacturing or industrial facilities?
Darren Rogge: There are always multiple ways to configure an electrical distribution system. In large-scale automated buildings, the electrical system is the heart of the building and must meet the needs of the user foremost. The challenge is to understand the user’s needs and develop a design that is scalable, robust, flexible and has future growth in mind. The electrical needs for today will not be the same as the electrical needs in five to 10 years and the design needs to include provisions to grow with the user’s needs.
The electric utility coordination is also a crucial element in design discussions. Understanding their limitations or timelines can impact the building’s electrical configuration. Procurement of major electrical distribution equipment is still a longer timeline and needs to be addressed early in the project to ensure that power can be delivered when needed during construction and as the user occupies the building.
Michael Walsh: Designing electrical systems for large-scale industrial facilities presents unique challenges, particularly as historical load profiles are becoming less reliable. Increased electrification of processes and the adoption of automation are driving significantly higher and more variable power demands, requiring more detailed load analysis early in design.
Power availability is also a growing constraint, making coordination with utilities and consideration during site selection critical. At the same time, facilities are expected to operate for decades while manufacturing processes evolve more rapidly. As a result, engineers are prioritizing scalable and flexible electrical infrastructure that can adapt to future changes without major disruption.
What types of unusual standby, emergency or backup power systems have you specified for industrial and manufacturing facilities?
Darren Rogge: We have a client that requires a fully generator backed-up building to maintain operations during a utility power failure. We have developed a design that incorporates a central generator that feeds into two separate switchboards with a main-tie-main configuration. This allows any loads within the facility to be connected to generator power. The downstream distribution is segregated to isolate specific loads.
The switchboards have integral shunt trip mechanisms and a load management control system that will disconnect specific loads automatically upon utility power failure and then also monitor other loads and disconnect nonrequired loads as needed to maintain the building’s electric usage load to the generator’s capability. This allows for facility operation to be maintained and product throughput to continue without disruption.
How are increasing power density and electrified processes changing electrical infrastructure design?
Darren Rogge: Buildings are requiring more electrical power than ever. The challenges are understanding demand usage and designing an electrical distribution system that is cost effective and supports the facility’s needs. Also, the electric utility provider’s infrastructure limitations can impact the building’s electrical design. The design team needs to work in close collaboration with the electric utility provider to understand any limitations to be incorporated.
What strategies are being used to improve power resiliency and reliability in manufacturing environments?
Michael Walsh: Power resiliency strategies in manufacturing environments are highly dependent on the criticality of the process and its tolerance for downtime. For some facilities, maintaining control and monitoring systems through short outages using uninterruptible power supply systems is sufficient, allowing processes to be safely restarted once power is restored.
For more critical operations, designs may incorporate higher levels of redundancy, similar to data center environments, including backup generation, redundant distribution systems and, in some cases, microgrids or energy storage. Increasingly, engineers are working with owners to right-size resiliency strategies based on operational risk, balancing reliability, cost and system complexity.
Darren Rogge: Each project location and electric utility provider produces specific challenges. The strategies to provide power resiliency and reliability will vary across the country. Design discussions need to weigh the user’s tolerance for power losses with costs associated with providing backup power systems. We are seeing microgrids and energy storage systems on the West Coast with utility providers not able to provide the necessary power needs and the rolling blackouts that occur. In other areas of the country, on-site backup generators are more prevalent for rare power outages.
When designing lighting systems for these types of structures, what design factors are being requested? Are there any technical advantages that need to be considered?
Darren Rogge: With LED lighting, there are fixtures suitable for most environments. The building height and clear height is a factor to be considered in selecting fixture output. Some of the challenges are the robotic structures and conveyance that go into the building and the shadowing effect they can cause. The lighting needs to accommodate these obstructions and provide the necessary illumination at the floor level for operations and egress.
Michael Walsh: LED lighting is now the standard in industrial facilities, but design considerations go well beyond fixture selection. Owners are focused on achieving appropriate light levels for safety and productivity while incorporating controls that align with operational needs, such as occupancy sensing, zoning and integration with facility systems.
There is also renewed interest in daylighting strategies, including skylights and sawtooth roof designs, to improve visibility and reduce energy use. From a technical standpoint, engineers must balance efficiency, glare control and uniformity, particularly in high-bay environments, while ensuring lighting systems support safe operations and long-term flexibility as facility layouts evolve.
Describe any microgrids you have designed for manufacturing/industrial buildings and campuses.
Michael Walsh: We have supported microgrid implementations focused on improving resiliency and operational efficiency in manufacturing environments. One example includes a system integrating on-site cogeneration and photovoltaic arrays tied into a facility’s medium-voltage distribution with advanced controls to manage load prioritization and autonomous operation.
These systems are designed to optimize the use of on-site generation, reduce reliance on the grid and maintain operations during disruptions. A key aspect of these projects is coordinating generation sources, controls and utility interconnection to create a seamless system that aligns with both operational goals and utility requirements.
Darren Rogge: We designed a microgrid solution for a West Coast project. The electric utility provider was unable to deliver the necessary power to support the project, and it would be up to two years before their infrastructure was upgraded to the site. An 8-megawatt (MW) microgrid solution was implemented to provide Day One power and was also tied in parallel with the 4 MW initial utility power that would become available at some point after facility operation. The electric utility provider’s infrastructure would later be upgraded to provide the full 8 MW of power being requested and the microgrid could then be a backup power source, a peak load shaving source or be removed.
Have recent designs included battery energy storage systems (BESS)?
Darren Rogge: BESS systems have been discussed on several projects but not implemented due to space constraints and costs.
