Nine out of ten large Spanish companies implement sustainability in a strategic way.
We find this statement in the eighth ‘Multisectoral Study on the state of Corporate Responsibility of Large Companies in Spain’, prepared by the Club de Excelencia.
Why is it so important now to have an energy efficiency strategy?
Because having an energy efficiency strategy guarantees a positive economic result. Since 2022 we have been facing a rise in energy costs, and a large part of a company’s costs are energy-related. According to a KPMG report, in industrial companies they can represent between 60 and 70% of total costs.
The main objective of a strategic plan on energy efficiency is: to produce the same with less energy, reducing environmental impact as much as possible and at the lowest cost.
But the concern to improve a company’s energy efficiency is not only a matter of economic savings, it is also imposed by national and community legislation.
With the EU’s goal of moving towards a climate-neutral economy by 2050, which involves reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to levels that can be absorbed or offset by carbon sinks such as forests or carbon capture technologies. This goal is crucial to addressing climate change and limiting its adverse impacts.
In Spain, the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan 2021-2030 (PNIEC) defines the objectives and measures for the transition towards a more sustainable energy model and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Some objectives are:
- Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.
- Ensure that 42% of final energy consumption comes from renewable sources by 2030.
- Reduce energy intensity and promote the rehabilitation of buildings to make them more efficient.
- Electrify various sectors, especially transport and heating, with the aim of reducing dependence on fossil fuels.
- Promote sustainable mobility, including the expansion of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles and the incorporation of renewable sources in transport.
- Encourage research and development of clean and sustainable technologies to achieve the proposed goals.
In an industrial environment, what is energy efficiency?
Energy efficiency is the set of actions that improve the relationship between the amount of energy consumed and the products and services obtained from its use.
Within this concept we find various potential savings measures such as:
- Low consumption lighting
- Photovoltaic panels
- Efficient air conditioning systems
- Improvements in insulation and sealing
All of them provide significant reductions in energy costs and improve the level of sustainability of any building.
If we focus on industrial activity, we need to identify the main consumption elements of factories (cooling systems, pumps and motors, handling lines, machinery, robots…).
Historically, maintenance staff used to manually record the values of the different factory meters to transfer them into an Excel file and keep a record. But to accurately monitor energy consumption, dedicated measuring equipment is needed to provide the data digitally.
How do we monitor energy efficiency?
At this point we must combine measurement with energy monitoring and management software. These softwares are characterized by:
- Integrating with measuring equipment
- Collecting data in real time
- Storing historical data
- Allowing data export in various formats or creating custom reports
But monitoring does NOT equal management or savings.
1.- As a first step, monitoring helps us detect potential savings and problematic points in consumption. It allows us to build a theoretical consumption model that shows how the factory’s energy expenditure is distributed.
2.- Based on that, as the next step, it is time to analyze the behavior of the facility in real time. Monitoring at this point helps check deviations and discover why they occur. Through connectivity with other systems, we can relate it to:
-
- The work shift
- The current production order
- The OEE percentage
- The maintenance schedule
- etc.
All this information should serve to propose measures and adjustments in consumption that lead to the optimization of energy resources.
3.- Finally, in control, monitoring helps to quickly see if the applied measures save energy. For example, if climate or lighting control automation is applied, to check that they work.
Thanks to the analysis of these data, the understanding of information is optimized through energy KPI reports that help make decisions much more precisely and quickly.
Monitoring systems for energy management help detect any deviation or problem that may arise in manufacturing processes more accurately. The analysis of this information helps diagnose problems quickly thanks to real-time visibility of where and allows us to measure the effectiveness of energy saving policies.
An example would be being able to sequence production orders based on consumption by product type in order to reduce the amount of energy used.
Energy efficiency will play an increasingly relevant role in the transformation of the industrial sector into a more sustainable one.
The Government continues to support renewable energies and energy efficiency through aid for the creation of energy communities and self-consumption, sustainability measures in industry and tourism, and approving regulations such as the Energy Savings Certificates, which will boost investment in energy efficiency technology and strengthen the volume of savings required by the energy efficiency directive.
There are also many efforts from administrations towards the digitalization of companies. Clearly, new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Big Data, etc., are key tools in the future of energy efficiency.
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