energy costs

Energy management systems provide a framework for the transparent display of energy consumptions, aiming for an increase of energy efficiency. At the same time, a certified energy management system is condition for the reimbursement of electricity taxes and the exemption of the EEG (Renewables Energy ACT) apportionment. Even though energy management systems lead evidently to a reduction of energy consumptions, only little companies have implemented such a system. The study presented in this paper gives an insight into the status of the cost factor energy and respective management systems in German SMEs (manufacturing industry). Moreover, the main pillars of energy management systems and their benefits are outlined.

Industry sectors with high energy consumption like the plastics processing industry already have high energy costs. In the short and medium term a further rise in energy prices can be expected. Not only the consumed energy quantity affects the costs but also the energy peaks. By the use of factory simulation the energy peaks of a model are simulated. An optimisation of the logistic control to reduce energy peaks is realised and the effects are described.