Insights into the Future of Energy Management
Review of EnEffCo® Academy 2025
This year’s EnEffCo® Academy provided an exclusive platform for managing directors and energy managers to gain in-depth insights into the latest developments and research projects in the field of energy efficiency and digitalization.
Experts from ÖKOTEC and the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology (IPK) as well as renowned industrial users such as Daimler Truck, Almaak international and Glencore presented practical solutions and strategic outlooks. We have summarized the highlights of the event.
The Evolution of EnEffCo®
Roland Berger, Managing Director of ÖKOTEC, and Prof. Dr. Jörg Krüger from Fraunhofer IPK opened the event and presented the impressive development of EnEffCo®. From a vision in 2007, EnEffCo® has developed into a world-leading solution that is now used by over 100 Clients in more than 35 countries.
Outlook for “eneffco BOOST”
This was followed by a preview of the upcoming major release “eneffco BOOST”. Under the motto “Faster. Smarter. More efficient.”, the software developed in-house marks a quantum leap in terms of technology and user-friendliness. Among other things, a completely new interface design with app-based menu navigation, context-sensitive navigation and increased performance and responsiveness will be available. Artificial intelligence will also be integrated even more deeply into eneffco BOOST – including through ML Python applications and LLM-supported functions that enable the Manual to be queried in natural language, for example.
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Presentations and practical reports at the 11th EnEffCo® Academy
- News from EnEffCo® – Major Release
- Flexibility Operations: Integration of relevant systems
- EnEffCo® in zinc production at Glencore, Nordenham
- Creation of the PCF with EnEffCo® at almaak international, Krefeld
- Scalable Energy Efficiency: Optimization of machining centers in engine production at Daimler Truck, Mannheim
EnEffNet research project: Digital networking platform for energy efficiency
Fraunhofer IPK is a specialist partner of this year’s EnEffCo® Academy and the EnEffNet research project. The aim of the project is to develop a digital networking platform that links energy data with machine and plant data in order to monitor, predict and specifically optimize efficiency potential.
As a direct user in the EnEffNet project, Zelijko Kopic from Daimler Truck AG gave an insight into the concrete implementation and the successes achieved in engine production at the Mannheim site. The focus was on increasing transparency and reducing energy consumption during non-productive times. By retrofitting measurement technology and connecting it to the EnEffCo® platform, it was possible to make the energy consumption of individual systems and operating states transparent and take targeted action to optimize hall ventilation, cooling supply and reduce the pressure level in the cooling lubricant supply.
Decarbonization and Flexibility Operations: Integration of relevant systems using the example of heat pumps
In a joint presentation, Arne Grein (ÖKOTEC) and Fabian Ahrendts (Fraunhofer IEG) highlighted the flexible use of heat pumps as the key to the cost-efficient decarbonization of industrial processes.
Many companies are faced with the challenge of making their heat supply sustainable and economical. Heat pumps, especially high-temperature heat pumps, are a key technology for decarbonization on site. However, the biggest obstacle to electrifying the heat supply is often the unfavorable ratio of electricity to gas prices in Germany.
The presentation showed that this challenge can be overcome through intelligent system integration and flexible operation. The solution lies in the combination of heat pumps with thermal storage units and a higher-level, intelligent control system, as offered by the EnEffCo® software. This approach makes it possible to operate the heat pump when electricity is cheap, for example when there is a high feed-in from renewable energies. The heat created is stored temporarily and called up when needed.
Using a practical example, it became clear that such an optimized overall system not only drastically reduces greenhouse gas emissions, but also significantly reduces overall energy costs compared to pure gas boiler or inflexible heat pump solutions.
Climate assessment with EnEffCo®: From data silo to reliable balance sheet
In the practical example of plastics compounder almaak International, Sustainability Manager Martin Bommer showed how EnEffCo® supports the requirements of sustainability reporting. Almaak uses EnEffCo® as a central data platform to create the greenhouse gas balance sheet efficiently and in compliance with standards. EnEffCo® bundles all activity data relevant for accounting, such as energy consumption, production volumes and raw materials, and links these with the appropriate emission factors.
A product carbon footprint (PCF) with EnEffCo® replaces error-prone Excel lists with a reliable database and automated calculations that enable significantly more efficient processing of reporting requirements. In addition, decentralized data sources can be integrated into EnEffCo® and complex calculations and allocations can be mapped directly in the system.
Workshops at the 11th EnEffCo® Academy
In addition to the presentations, the 70 or so guests at the event also took part in various workshops:
- EnEffCo® hacks for beginners and advanced users
- Monitoring, predicting and optimizing the energy efficiency of robot cells with EnEffCo®
- Heat pumps – an opportunity for decarbonization and flexible energy management
- Flexibility Operations: Operational optimization
„The 11th EnEffCo® Academy impressively demonstrated how diverse the areas of application of EnEffCo® are – from intelligent energy management and the automated optimization of essential systems and processes to the integration of heat pumps for decarbonization. We are delighted with the positive feedback from participants and speakers and see it as motivation for another varied program next year.“
Roland Berger, Managing Director & Partner, ÖKOTEC Energiemanagement GmbH
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About EnEffCo®
EnEffCo® started as a research and development project and is now the software solution used at over 220 production and 1,500 Commercial locations in 35 countries, including Mercedes, BMW, Berliner Stadtreinigung, Deutsche Rockwool, Duo Plast, Ineos, Innospec, N-Ergie, Ornua, Speira, Veolia and Wela-Plast.
- Further information about our EnEffCo® software solution
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