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Table of contents
- What is Power Quality?
- Why Power Quality Has Worsened Today
- What Problems Does Poor Power Quality Cause in Companies?
- Power Quality and Energy Savings in Companies
- Power Quality Analysis: The First Step to Understand Where to Act
- Power Quality and Plant Reliability
- Power Quality FAQs
When people talk about energy efficiency, most companies think about photovoltaic systems, LED lighting, or new machinery. Yet there is a less visible factor that directly impacts consumption, plant reliability, and operating costs: power quality.
Power quality is not about how much electricity you consume, but how electricity reaches your plant and how it is used. And that is exactly where a significant part of real, measurable energy savings starts for companies.
Want to understand whether your electrical supply is “healthy” and stable?
Talk to an Energia Europa expert by calling +39.0445.510156 or fill out the contact form for a first technical assessment.
What is Power Quality?
Power quality refers to the set of characteristics of the electrical supply feeding your plant: waveform integrity, voltage stability, phase balance, and the absence of disturbances.
In ideal conditions, electrical current would have a perfect sine wave.
In modern industrial systems, this is increasingly less common.
“The evolution of industrial plants has made energy quality a central topic, no longer a secondary one.”
Stefano De Giorgis, CEO, Energia Europa
Why Power Quality Has Worsened Today
Industrial automation has profoundly changed how energy is absorbed. Inverters, electronic drives, variable-speed motors, UPS systems, and switching power supplies draw current in a non-linear way, deforming the original sine wave.
Add to this the growing presence of renewables and distributed generation, and internal electrical networks become more complex and less stable from an electrical standpoint.
The result is an internal network increasingly affected by:
- waveform distortion
- harmonics
- phase imbalance
- losses that are not immediately visible
What Problems Does Poor Power Quality Cause in Companies?
Poor power quality is not “just a technical issue.”
It is an operational and financial problem that is often underestimated.
In companies, it can lead to:
- higher energy consumption with the same output
- overheating of cables, switchboards, and equipment
- reduced lifespan of electrical and electronic components
- frequent trips and protective device interventions
- instability in production processes
- downtime that is difficult to explain
Many of these effects are not immediately obvious, but they create continuous inefficiencies that, over time, impact costs, reliability, and plant safety.
Power Quality and Energy Savings in Companies
When energy quality is compromised:
- current draw increases to achieve the same work
- machine efficiency decreases
- more energy is dissipated as heat
- the electricity you pay for is not fully converted into useful output
Improving power quality means recovering real efficiency, even before producing new energy.
In many cases, improving the way the plant is supplied delivers tangible benefits without changing production processes.
If your goal is to reduce consumption in your company or production plant, exploring energy savings in companies helps you identify the right levers to act on—starting from the quality of your electrical supply.
“Many companies discover they waste energy not because of what they do, but because of how their plant is supplied.”
Stefano De Giorgis, CEO, Energia Europa
Noticing unusual consumption or inefficiencies that are hard to explain?
Talk to a specialist: call +39.0445.510156 or fill out the contact form.
Power Quality Analysis: The First Step to Understand Where to Act
Before any intervention, it is essential to understand how your internal electrical network actually behaves.
A power quality analysis measures key electrical parameters and helps identify disturbances, inefficiencies, and anomalies.
Only by starting from objective data can you:
- confirm whether power quality issues are present
- understand their impact on consumption
- identify improvement opportunities
- make informed technical decisions
To see how these topics are handled in practice and which solutions are used today in industrial contexts, you can also read the interview on power quality devices.
Power Quality and Plant Reliability
Improving power quality does not only mean reducing consumption.
It also means:
- reducing electrical stress on the plant
- lowering the risk of failures
- increasing production stability
- protecting machinery and investments over time
It is no surprise that many companies start focusing on power quality after dealing with apparently unrelated issues: production stops, overheating, or anomalies that are difficult to interpret.
Power Quality FAQs
What is power quality in simple terms?
Power quality describes how stable and “clean” the electrical supply is for your plant, affecting consumption, efficiency, and reliability.
Can poor power quality really increase energy consumption?
Yes. Distortions and imbalances create losses and reduce machine efficiency, often increasing consumption for the same output.
Is power quality the same as power factor correction?
No. Power factor correction is only one part of power quality.
How can I tell if my plant has power quality problems?
By performing a power quality analysis based on real measurements.
Where should a company start to improve power quality?
With measurement and diagnosis of electrical parameters, before choosing any corrective action.
Want to understand whether your plant’s power quality is adequate?
Power quality means efficiency, reliability, and control of energy.
To understand whether your plant is operating at its best, the first step is always clarity.
Contact Energia Europa
Call +39.0445.510156 or fill out the contact form for a first assessment.
