How can industrial energy consumption be controlled and reduced? In the cold and heat production sector, CEF Nord, in collaboration with numerous other VINCI Energies business units, has designed a configurable, cost-optimised solution.
To support its customers in their energy transitions and reduce the energy consumption of their equipment (heat and cold production, air handling, compressed air, etc.), the VINCI Energies Cold Network created Orfée Monitoring, a software solution for energy monitoring whose name in French stands for “cold network offer for energy and environment”. It is the result of several years’ work stretching back to 2022.
“We have experience in monitoring, but it was expensive because we had to develop our applications on a case-by-case basis from supervision software,” explains David Facon, Business Unit Manager at CEF Nord, a VINCI Energies business unit specialised in climate engineering and refrigeration systems installations. “The idea is to have an in-house solution that is standardised and configurable.”
This new energy management tool is part of a comprehensive optimisation initiative including energy audits, energy efficiency measures, energy performance contracts and utility maintenance. David Facon continues: “The Orfée Monitoring software does more than just track electricity and gas consumption – it can also create alerts for overconsumption or reduced efficiency.”
A reduction of at least 5% in electricity and gas consumption.
The solution will be available to all 18 business units in the Cold Network, and can be implemented by energy managers and refrigeration or heating engineers, who need not be industrial IT specialists. The configurable software is composed of standardised “utility” blocks, which helps reduce programming time. The tool will also be available to customers via subscription to the SaaS (Software as a Service) solution.
Rollout within three years
The tool, currently at the prototype stage, is the result of collaboration between several VINCI Energies business units: CEF Industrie Nord Pas de Calais, CEF Froid Commercial, Actemium Nancy Compressed Air, ATIEP, Paumier, Klim’Top Controls, Actemium Décarbonation Nord & Est, Actemium Arras, and Actemium Lille Digital Solutions.
“The ambition is eventually for all 18 business units in the Cold Network to be able to offer this solution to their customers,” says David Facon. “The solution can then be rolled out across the Actemium (the VINCI Energies industry brand) and VINCI Energies Building Solutions networks. Rollout will be national to start with, but the finished tool will be multilingual and made available internationally.”
Environmentally speaking, this management solution will make it possible to reduce electricity and gas consumption by at least 5%, and by more than 20% in the context of an EPC (energy performance contract). It also allows monitoring of water consumption in factories in water stress areas. “We are planning to roll out an initial application of the tool for one of our customers with functionality for at least the chilled water system, water pumps and heat pumps,” concludes David Facon.
09/12/2024
