Climate change has escalated to become one of the world’s greatest challenges. With the Paris Agreement of 2015, 196 countries committed to limit global warming to well below 2°C this century. At the same time, forecasts predict that today's global economic output will double by 2050. Reconciling this immense growth with the urgent need to protect the environment will require huge commitments to reduce global consumption of energy and resources.
This report briefly discusses the status of energy consumption and how to achieve greater energy efficiency. Siemens’ partnership with Grundfos will also be presented, using a case study to illustrate its purpose and goals.
Recent years have been good for energy users. Political conflicts led to collapsing oil prices and energy costs are now lower than a few years ago. At first sight, this seems like a bad economic framework to invest in energy management. Still, energy in a broader context (WAGES: water, air, gas, electricity, steam) account for a significant part of variable costs in manufacturing (see chart).
Most recently, costs have started to rise again. The oil price drop was a result of a political dispute between Russia and Saudi Arabia, now settled. Also, political direction is towards renewable energy. This will impact electricity prices, price volatility, and even electricity availability. For example, the European Union (EU) wants to become CO2 neutral and plans to increase CO2 taxes. This means that industry must prepare for load shedding, overall energy reduction, and more flexibility in own demand.
Today, we already can see the direct economic impact of climate change. A drought in China caused lower output from hydropower, which was one reason for the silicon chip shortage of early 2021. Fires and droughts in the US have reduced the availability of water, another form of energy. In Europe heat waves, forest fires, and floods have caused supply chain disruptions. For this reason, end users must prepare to conserve energy from every source to keep production running and make supply chains resilient.
There is also a social impact of industry, from the availability of labor to civil unrest. An example is manufacturing in densely populated areas of Western Europe to be close to the customer. In this case, the impact on local eco-systems, and water and electricity use need to be minimized (see Tesla Factory in Germany). Another example is growing protests in Latin America and Africa against mining projects, leading the whole industry to consider a more energy-aware production.
In today’s world, we cannot imagine industrial production without electric motors. Nearly all industries use motor-driven applications: pumps, fans, compressors, air-conditioning systems, cranes, elevators, conveyor belts, etc. Electric motors play a major role in energy efficiency as they account for about 70 percent of the total industrial electrical energy consumption. And the trend is rising, due to growing demand. Through energy-efficient components and optimization solutions, potential savings of up to 60 percent in drive systems are possible.
Modern, energy-efficient motors with an IE4 efficiency class (Super Premium Efficiency) can help save energy by up to 15 percent compared to the IE3 efficiency class. In addition, digital components such as motor-mounted sensors collect key data on vibration, temperature, and magnetic field that are translated into actionable information about a motor’s condition and performance. Together with motors connected to variable speed drives or frequency converters, savings as high as 30 percent are possible, while the productivity of production processes can be improved by 8 to 12 percent.
Integrated digital solutions offer significantly higher overall energy and resource efficiency through the connectivity of individual components. Smart or IoT sensors, energy data and analytics, and artificial intelligence help to continuously optimize numerous production processes via IIoT applications that help to reduce environmental impact and cut costs.
The basis for this is provided by intelligent sensors and analysis tools that monitor, harmonize, and improve all process sequences as part of a high-level system approach. For example, smart sensors such as Siemens SIMOTICS CONNECT enable direct analysis of connected electric motors, while modern variable speed drives can directly evaluate and forward specific plant parameters. The data obtained, including visualizations, simulations, and recommendations for action, are evaluated via close links to the appropriate tools in the Siemens portfolio, such as SiDrive IQ Fleet or Analyze MyDrives. With the help of intelligent and integrated digital technologies, users can realize energy savings of up to 60 percent in the overall system. At the same time, savings in process energy and in production, product lifecycle, and product service life in complex systems can add up considerably.
Danish Crown, a food processing company, set out to digitalize water pump systems and access plant wide data to optimize production processes. Experts from Grundfos, a pump manufacturer, and Siemens, offered a state-of-the-art motor pump system with IoT functions and the drive system for a hot water pump used for cleaning. The system is now monitored digitally, which allows plant operators to know if a pump has any impending problems, is operating inefficiently or requires maintenance. This can enable managers to plan downtime, optimize resources and increase overall operational efficiency.
The solution includes pumps from Grundfos and components from the Siemens Digital Enterprise portfolio. The Siemens solution includes standard sensor technology, control, energy management solutions, the use of MindSphere (industrial IoT-as-a-service), and an app to evaluate system condition data.
The benefits from this new motor pump system with IIoT functions are compelling:
Acciona designs, builds, and operates drinking water treatment plants, wastewater treatment facilities, and reverse osmosis desalination plants. The company has been contracted to manage and service 15 of the Canal de Isabel II water treatment plants in Spain. Canal de Isabel II wanted a solution that can make its wastewater treatment plants more efficient and sustainable. Siemens and Acciona together offered a solution called “Treatment Plant 4.0 a Wastewater Treatment Plant,” developed specifically for wastewater treatment plants. Treatment Plant 4.0 facilities use the latest technology to control, monitor, and simulate processes, communications, and energy management. This enables the optimization of energy consumption and improves efficiency.
Acciona and Canal de Isabel II deployed various Siemens products to create Treatment Plant 4.0. These include SCALANCE routers, edge computing and IPCs, power supplies, and automation systems based on SIMATIC S7-400 and S7-1500.
SIMATIC Energy Manager PRO is fully integrated and ISO compliant energy management software that produces detailed reports and displays performance indicators and figures on consumption. It can also analyze consumption and generate energy consumption predictions for certain batches or materials. Various automation systems can be integrated through numerous interfaces.
When ARC started research on energy management, energy performance contracting was regarded as something risky and only meaningful in certain cases. This has changed, driven by several trends. The overall trend to X-as-a-service means companies are re-thinking their core competencies and value chains. Also, digital infrastructure (from networks to cloud platform) has improved and transparency is now more easily possible and cheaper. Finally, more machines now are equipped with metering equipment, which increases awareness of energy costs.
Energy performance contracting means that no up-front investments are needed. A partner such as Siemens installs the necessary equipment and is paid by the amount of energy (cost) saved. The end user benefits from lower energy costs. For this process to work, it is important to define strict targets for energy saving. Siemens follows the four-step approach described in the chart below.
For end users, the benefit of energy performance contracting is that the optimization of a secondary target, such as energy costs, can be outsourced without jeopardizing the core of production. When the contractor has specific industry know-how, phases 1 and 2 can be sped up significantly and savings will be higher. Another benefit is that a large share of the savings is still available, even when the contract has ended. Savings come quickly and for the long term.
The main contract type is the so-called shared savings: provider and client analyze the saving potential, then the provider finances and implements the project. Both parties share the cost savings and the risk. From ARC’s experience, these savings are often reinvested in new energy saving projects.
Siemens has a key role and responsibility to help industrial companies achieve greater energy efficiency, optimize production, reduce lifecycle costs, and improve sustainability. As a leading supplier of motors, drive technologies, control systems, industrial PCs, edge devices, panels, energy management software, and cloud-based services, Siemens offers a comprehensive solution for managing energy efficiency. The company is committed to a consistent sustainability strategy to ensure that end users’ products, processes, and supply chains are operated in a way that keeps resources and systems as energy efficient as possible.
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Keywords: Energy Efficiency, Energy Management, Siemens, Grundfos, Industrial Drive Systems, ARC Advisory Group.