From an environmental point of view, PAPUREX’s electricity procurement has so far been anything but a weak point. As described in the current edition of the environmental statement, the company has been using exclusively green electricity since 2003. The download link to the environmental statement can be found on our website page on the environment. In addition, 244 solar panels on top of the production and office buildings now help to minimize the use of grid electricity. Nevertheless, a further step towards greater energy efficiency has now been taken with the introduction of an energy management system.
As is almost always the case, the basic prerequisite for using energy management software is the installation of the appropriate hardware. To this end, colleagues from the PAPUREX workshop department began equipping the main consumers at the company headquarters with separate meter modules at the end of 2024. For example, the granulate drying system, the compressed air system, and the e-car charging infrastructure can now be evaluated separately.
Avoiding peak loads for more energy efficiency
The energy management system can now analyze in real time which consumer is currently drawing how much grid power. This is helpful from several points of view: among other things, so-called load peaks can be avoided this way. A peak load is a short-term peak consumption that can have a major impact on a company’s electricity bill due to the load on the grid. The grid consumption of PAPUREX is therefore “smoothed” so that the electricity supplier has fewer problems providing electricity to other users. This is particularly important in countries like Germany, which obtain a significant proportion of their electricity from renewable energies. For example, a more even load on the grid means that so-called peak load power plants, which are often still operated with fossil fuels, must be put into operation less frequently. In the case of renewable energies, production cannot be ramped up spontaneously – there is only as much sunshine or wind as the weather allows. Avoiding peak loads also has many other advantages, such as protecting the grid infrastructure or avoiding supply losses.
In everyday life, the “smoothing” of energy consumption requires some priority management: Of course, it is not enough to recognize the emergence of a load peak at an early stage – you also have to prevent it. This can only be achieved if consumption is reduced or switched off completely. Again, this is not possible with all consumers. In PAPUREX’s business operations, for example, it would not be expedient to simply switch off a production plant. The question of whether colleagues’ electric cars need to charge at full speed at the moment leaves more room for adjustments.
In addition, hidden consumption can be uncovered through real-time evaluation. For example, it is immediately apparent if the compressor starts up at the weekend even though it is not needed or if the granulate drying timer is not yet perfectly aligned. The system also allows conclusions to be drawn about the vitality of individual consumers. For example, if the power consumption of the pneumatic system increases from one day to the next, conclusions can be drawn about a leak in the line.
The next steps to more energy efficiency are already planned
The next step in optimizing electricity consumption is to install an energy storage system. This can be charged in times of overproduction, for example when production is at a standstill, but the sun is shining. This energy is then available when load peaks threaten to occur, but no consumer can be shut down.
Before such an energy storage system is installed at PAPUREX, however, the modernization of the heating system must be completed, which is already in full swing. The communicated goal of CO2 neutrality in Scope 1 and Scope 2 is therefore within reach.