Focus on energy efficiency and CO2 savings

Jurek Melsheimer, Head of EnEffCo® Operations, presented the highlights of the current release 4.8: The introduction of data pots has further improved performance.

Ad-hoc calculations and updates of traffic lights, speedometers and – now also bar charts – are carried out more efficiently in dashboards. The Smart Query module also sets new standards for simple and time-saving management and reporting, e.g. for baselines, statistics, balancing groups and CO2 emissions.

As a customer from the very beginning, the company from the automotive industry presented the milestones since the introduction of the software. Initially, the focus was on developing suitable energy performance indicators, monitoring the efficiency of significant energy users such as refrigeration and compressed air systems and setting up and establishing automated reporting at over 20 locations.

The systematic collection and processing of data in EnEffCo® paid off for the company during the gas crisis: As a major consumer of energy, it needed a basis for decision-making and control in order to be able to hold weekly discussions with the Federal Network Agency. An interdisciplinary team quickly developed smart dashboards from over 200 different analyses in order to visualize savings, carry out simulations and obtain reliable forecasts, among other things.

In the second practical presentation, a company from the chemical industry reported on the professionalization of Peak Load Management. Peak load capping was further developed by installing a battery storage system in combination with a diesel generator.

In cooperation with the EnEffCo® team, the system was put into operation at very short notice. In addition to a mid-six-figure reduction in grid charges, the customer benefits from the fact that the EnEffCo® control and monitoring system eliminates the expense of coordination loops during operation.

The third practical report focused on the monitoring and operational optimization of a CHP plant with EnEffCo® at a customer in the food industry. The use of the Forecast and Flexibility modules enables the determination of marketing periods for the spot market and balancing power as well as the operational management of the supply plants for spot market-oriented use. Read the whole success story of Jack Link’s.

The preparation of data relating to energy efficiency and climate protection is of great importance for internal and external communication. In the workshop, EnEffCo® consultants Xeniya Kosheleva and Tala Rifka presented the extensive possibilities offered by EnEffCo®. For example, users can use various templates for standard reports, for energetic assessment, monitoring of Significant Energy Users (SEU) or billing, which are easily transferable and save users a lot of time.

This dashboard is used to monitor a Refrigeration system and is transferable to other supply plants and also to EnEffCo® installations at other locations. The dashboard provides all important information at a glance. The left and right columns integrate images with live values from the control system display module.

The background color of the integrated datapoints (in this case green) reflects the data quality of the live values. The power consumption of the compressor and the power consumption of the pumps are monitored and displayed in the form of a tachometer at the bottom. On the right side you can see the live calculated Coefficient of Performance (COP) and the costs.

Targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and achieving net-zero neutrality are already anchored in the corporate strategy of many companies. As part of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), companies will be obliged to publish comparable and reliable sustainability information on environmental and social factors and sustainable corporate governance from 2024 and 2025. In the workshop, ÖKOTEC expert Kristina Gallitschke presented the requirements of the CSRD and the EU standard European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) for sustainability reporting.

With EnEffCo® , companies are particularly well positioned for data collection, data preparation, data analysis and key performance indicators (KPIs) for the topic of climate (ESRS E1). There are also synergies with the topics of water (ESRS E3) and circular economy (ESRS E5).

Jan Drieselmann, Consultant, presented the steps involved in transferring a CCF from a primary system to EnEffCo® and the advantages of data preparation and analysis via the Smart Query module.

In addition to the corporate carbon footprint for companies (CCF), a product carbon footprint (PCF) can also be mapped and report templates created for external verification of the balance sheet. In addition, EnEffCo® customers can use already connected data for Scope 1 and Scope 2 and differentiate the CCF for the main consumers or emission sources in EnEffCo® and present savings, for example by optimizing operational management, even during the calendar year. EnEffCo® offers a flexible and high-performance working environment that saves users time, maintains data quality and enables errors to be rectified quickly, even as data sets become increasingly complex. Sankey, waterfall, line or bar charts, for example, are available for data visualization.

In the workshop, our experts for energy management, Thomas Lechelt and Klaus Ramuschkat, demonstrated the concrete implementation of requirements from the world of energy management systems in EnEffCo®.

The EnEffCo® basic package provides users with all the tools they need to digitize an energetic assessment and pass certification audits in accordance with ISO 50001. The preconfigured structure spans a common thread between the standard requirements and condenses data meaningfully and visually in reports and dashboards. This allows energy managers to keep an eye on key systems and aspects. The action management module provides support for users who want to use EnEffCo® to calculate cost-effectiveness in accordance with DIN EN 17463 (VALERI).

The implementation of the energetic assessment in EnEffCo® offers the following advantages, among others

• Ensuring completeness with regard to standard requirements
• Documentation in a clearly structured file
• Automated and easily updatable reports
• Basis for the external ISO 50001 audit with the option to go into more detail
• Minimization of annual expenses

Many companies ask themselves whether there is further potential for self-generation at their location and whether it is worth investing in photovoltaics or an electricity storage system.

In the workshop, experts Arne Grein, André Presser and Malik de Campos presented how reliable answers to the above questions can be developed with the help of EnEffCo® and the experience gained from consulting projects.

Load profiles and energy prices are often available in customers’ EnEffCo® installations, so the basis for a detailed comparison of alternative actions is already in place. The first step is to upload standardized load profiles, standardized photovoltaic profiles and historical spot market prices. Technical and economic assumptions must then be defined, such as the maximum area utilization and orientation, the specific investment costs, the grid fee and the project duration.

Thanks to the high flexibility of EnEffCo®, it is possible to obtain a large number of evaluated use cases, including site-specific restrictions, in a compact analysis. The result can be used directly for the investment application.