First updates on the project, presentation video, news and events
Dear readers,
The FLEXIndustries project started on 1st May 2022 and since then some interesting and important actions have been implemented.
As you probably know, the transition to climate neutrality, which the EU aims to achieve by 2050, will require transformational efforts in all sectors of the economy and in particular in Energy Intensive Industries (EII). The industrial sector alone accounts for 27% of the total final energy consumption in the EU countries and constitutes one of the key players in the game-changing scenario proposed by the European Green Deal. To meet these challenges FLEXIndustries adopts a holistic approach, acting at various levels, from devices to processes, and value chains, from an operating, tactical, and strategic perspective. More specifically the project supports industries in redesigning and optimizing their production processes and rethinking their interaction with the energy system. This should lead toward a vast integration of renewable energy sources (RES) and the improvement of their environmental footprint. Discover more by watching our presentation video.
The path toward industry decarbonization is not easy and one of the main drivers of these decarbonization efforts is the electrification of processes that consumes fossil fuels for their operation. On the other hand, the increase in electricity demand requires an increase in the generation of energy from clean technologies.
Reliable power systems must guarantee the supply and quality of energy at the time: for this reason coordination between process scheduling and procurement of electric power could contribute to industries adjusting manageable demand to hours and becoming more active in electricity markets (wholesale and balancing market) which would lead to reducing energy costs and emissions associated with the production.
Recent geopolitical events and the economic crisis have caused disruptive events in electricity prices, increasing by more than 400% with a maximum historical price of over 500€/MWh during last year; for this reason it is necessary to adjust existing or implement new energy market models that remunerate in a fair manner without obstacles, particularly for energy-intensive consumers in the sense that motivates them to plan their processes in an energy-optimal way (read at this link FLEXIndustries market analysis).
FLEXIndustries will help elaborate a flexibility assessment methodology for industrial environments because it summarizes the current characteristics of energy markets and identifies the flexibility potential of the actions that Demo sites will implement along the project as a previous analysis to design the methodology. In the end, the project will contribute to the main innovations in terms of modelling solutions for integrated energy systems in industries to study how to optimize and exploit local flexibility.
“FLEXIndustries will revolutionize the industrial sector, paving the way for integrated energy systems and local flexibility optimization. Our innovation in flexibility assessment through development of a methodology and real deployment of integrated dynamic energy and process management will be a game changer for the industry, harnessing the potential renewables and participating actively in the energy markets to create a more sustainable and efficient future.”