Autor: Alexander Sauer

With digitization, industrial production is already undergoing massive changes. However, the mere introduction of Cyber-Physical systems is not sufficient to address essential challenges of society and companies. This can only be achieved through a systematic application of knowledge about natural processes or nature for the purpose of optimizing industrial manufacturing processes. The result of this biological transformation of industrial value creation is the realization of socalled biointelligent systems.

An increasingly fluctuating energy production and therefore fluctuating energy prices are new challenges for sustainable and cost-effective manufacturing. Due to a growing volatility in the energy supply, industrial consumers are increasingly involved in the balance of the energy system. The goal is to consume energy only when it is cheap and reduce the power consumption during periods of high energy prices. This leads to a conflict between the flexible use of energy and the production output which has to be balanced. While Smart Grids solutions for regional and higher structured energy networks balance supply and demand, solutions for the industrial environment are still missing. In this article, the current research on the development of a decentralized control solution for industrial energy system is presented.

Energy management systems (EMS) experience an increase in popularity since their introduction. Especially as their introduction allows for tax capping. However, an integrated approach on energy-orintation requires more than the realisation of an EMS. The article illustrates spheres of activity that can be taken to enhance the approach of energy management systems towards a holistic energy-orientation.