Food + Beverages
Jack Link’s Europe GmbH
Cogeneration Plants (CHP) control with EnEffCo®
Since 2022, Jack Link’s has been using EnEffCo® for monitoring and operational optimization. Jack Link’s uses the Forecast and Flexibility Operation modules to determine the marketing periods for spot market and balancing power, as well as to manage the operation of the supply plants for spot market-oriented use.
The Challenge
Jack Link’s is the global market leader for branded protein snacks with 3,500 employees worldwide. Jack Link’s identified an automated control of the CHP units aligned with the market situation as a significant potential for improvement. With this goal in mind, ÖKOTEC investigated the forecasting and evaluation of flexibilities of the plant operation based on two CHP units with combined heat storage and two gas boilers.
“The EnEffCo® interface to the energy supplier has significantly simplified the marketing process and deployment planning. At the same time, we have increased the transparency of our processes with the connectivity to the live data.”
Tobias Ebersberger
Energy and resource manager
Solution and Implementation
- Preparation of a flexibility concept for an EnEffCo®-based optimized operation of the supply systems by ÖKOTEC (taking into account optimized switching operations)
- Continuous forecasting of the electricity and heat load profile as well as electricity and natural gas prices with the forecast module (taking into account operating restrictions)
- Proposal of marketing periods for balancing power provision and day-ahead use
- Automated setpoint specification for CHP control and communication of schedules to the energy supplier with the Flexibility operations module (4 days in advance)
- Daily reports of the actual CHP operation and presentation of the financial benefits
Benefits
- Powerful interfaces: Integration of weather and pricing data and forecasts in EnEffCo®, among other things
- Forecast of heat and electricity demand: Improved forecasts every 15 minutes
- Plant optimization: Operation of complex plant systems is optimized in a fully automated manner. Possibility of expansion to include future supply systems, e.g., heat pumps.
- Market communication for procurement optimization: Interface to the energy supplier enables cost-optimized use of the CHPs
- Real contribution to the energy transition: Mobilization of already existing energy flexibility and shutdown of CHP units to relief power grid load
