Energy Audit as a Competitive Advantage

Can you tell us about your role at Veil Energy and how your team supports companies in conducting energy audits?

I have been working for Veil Energy for almost nine years, during which time I have combined energy consulting with R&D activities for heat recovery systems. I currently lead the team responsible for energy analysis and diagnosis, efficiency improvements, upgrades and access to incentive schemes, while continuing to work on CHP system design projects.

In the field of consultancy, our team supports companies undertaking a diagnostic process (whether mandatory or voluntary) throughout the entire process, from initial contact to final approval and submission to the relevant authorities. I refer to a ‘diagnostic process’ because an energy audit involves more than just filling out a document. It leads the company to become aware of its energy consumption, classify it and relate it to its production activity, enabling it to take action to improve its energy performance. It is therefore a growth process for the customer.

What exactly does the Energy Audit requirement under the Italian Legislative Decree 102/2014 entail, and which companies are required to carry it out? What are the deadlines?

According to Article 8 of Legislative Decree 102/2014, Italian companies currently required to undergo energy audits are large companies, i.e. companies that employ more than 250 people and have a turnover exceeding €50 million, or those that employ more than 250 people and have a balance sheet exceeding €43 million. From 2020 onwards, large enterprises with total annual energy consumption of less than 50 toe will not be subject to this obligation. In addition to large enterprises, energy-intensive and/or gas-intensive companies identified by specific NACE or ATECO codes and registered on the CSEA lists are also required to undergo energy audits. These companies are characterised by high energy consumption (electricity consumption of not less than 1 GWh/year or natural gas consumption of not less than 1 GWh/year).

The energy audit is valid for four years. As the expiry date approaches, a new audit must be drawn up and uploaded to the ENEA portal before four years have elapsed since the date of filing of the previous document.

From July 2024, energy-intensive companies applying for inclusion in the CSEA lists (energy-intensive and gas-intensive companies) may do so if they have a valid diagnosis or if they have adopted an energy management system compliant with ISO 50001.

Can you explain the approach and main stages that Veil Energy follows in carrying out an Energy Audit?

The approach is essentially based on the requirements of the standard and consists of the following steps (not exhaustive): initial contacts and sending of requests for data necessary for the preparation of the diagnosis and subsequent site visit to complete data collection and understand the main stages of the production process. This is followed by an analysis of annual and monthly consumption data and the development of the electrical and thermal models needed to distribute the consumption of the various energy carriers among the different users.

We then proceed with the calculation of energy performance indices (EnPI) and, if required, the study of the cumulative evolution of energy performance over time. We also carry out CUSUM analyses. The data analysis concludes with the processing of hourly values for the elaboration of hourly consumption profiles for typical days.

In the last part of the diagnosis document, improvement measures are proposed to the client to increase energy performance. The final stages of the process involve a meeting with the client to present the diagnosis, sign the document and, if necessary, upload it to the Audit 102 portal.

Our approach aims to provide a complete characterisation of the site, so the diagnosis examines the annual and monthly consumption for three years and the hourly consumption for a specific year. In addition, in collaboration with the customer, we try to identify the correspondences between energy flows and the stages of the production process to propose targeted and effective savings solutions.

How does the E-BOOST platform enable energy data (e.g. electricity, gas, heat) to be aggregated and logged in accordance with the UNI CEI EN 16247 standard? What advantages does it offer over traditional systems?

Energy audits can be carried out without a monitoring system. The necessary data is usually available to companies. However, it should be noted that this data is aggregated. Conversely, consumption recording provides separate data for each user. In the field of business, user consumption data is of significant value when constructing consumption models, as it facilitates the creation of more accurate models. Given that improvement measures are evaluated on the basis of the energy models produced in the diagnosis, the importance of monitoring platforms is clear.

E-BOOST is a comprehensive system that enables the measurement, viewing and storage of both aggregated and separate data for all energy carriers present at the site under diagnosis. This unique functionality is available on a single platform, providing a streamlined and efficient solution for data management. This tool is extremely useful given that it incorporates additional features in addition to those that are merely useful for energy diagnoses.

Can you explain how an effective EnPI (Energy Performance Indicator) is calculated and which indicators you consider most relevant in energy-intensive industrial contexts?

The EnPI, or energy performance index, is an index that relates the consumption of one or more energy carriers to one or more production data. An example of an EnPI that is familiar to everyone is the fuel consumption of a car in relation to the kilometres travelled (L/km). It is therefore a value that does not identify mere consumption, but performance, therefore consumption in relation to the purpose that generates the consumption itself. This is the key to defining an effective EnPI: it is necessary to identify the production data on which the main consumption of the production process depends.

The definition of EnPI is therefore closely related to the production process: the production parameter may correspond, for example, to the square metres of surface area treated in a year or the kilograms per year of finished product. When choosing the production parameter, it is also important to consider the size that the company usually uses for internal reporting, the size already identified in any previous diagnoses and the size that ENEA normally uses in the benchmarks for the sector in which the company operates.

How is the correlation between energy consumption and production parameters (e.g. machine output, operating hours, volumes processed) managed through E-BOOST? What is the role of integration with process data?

Traditionally, EnPIs are calculated on an annual basis with reference to overall consumption. E-BOOST enables you to automatically calculate aggregate and individual performance indices at various time intervals (from annual to daily) by entering production data or acquiring it directly.

Calculating the energy performance of individual machines enables targeted identification of the source of deterioration and/or improvement within the entire production process. Additionally, high-frequency monitoring (e.g. monthly or weekly) allows for swift addressing of any declines in energy performance that would typically only be detected at the end of the year.

How does E-BOOST contribute to the analysis of electrical loads outside production hours or in standby mode, and how can this data be transformed into concrete proposals for action?

The hourly analysis of electricity and heat consumption enables the identification and quantification of consumption outside of production hours (e.g. evenings, nights and public holidays). However, it should be noted that this is always aggregated data, which cannot be attributed to specific users. Reducing this consumption is a complex undertaking.

However, it is both easier and safer if a monitoring system is already installed in the plant, because much of the consumption outside working hours may be due to monitored users. In such cases, analysing the absorption curve of a single department or, even better, a single machine, makes it possible to unequivocally identify which asset consumes energy outside production hours. It should be noted that not all consumption outside production hours can be eliminated, as it is still necessary for plant activities (e.g. consumption by server rooms, refrigerated cells for product storage, alarm systems, etc.).

In a multi-site environment, how do you manage comparability between sites with different production volumes?

The energy performance indices calculated in the diagnosis allow a direct comparison of performance between production sites belonging to the same company (or different companies) that carry out similar or very similar processes. As mentioned above, when choosing the production parameter to correlate with consumption, it is important to also consider those normally used in ENEA benchmarks or regulatory standards, as they represent a reference that should be the same for all companies operating in the same sector.

What tools do you offer customers after diagnosis to maintain a continuous improvement plan? Can E-BOOST be considered an evolutionary tool also from an ISO 50001 perspective?

At the end of the diagnosis, many customers opt to install a monitoring system because they understand the usefulness of tracking consumption. If they choose E-BOOST, we offer periodic energy efficiency reports to analyse overall consumption and monitored utilities, and to identify inefficiencies that can be eliminated. Many of the analyses we perform use data already calculated by our monitoring platform.

From an ISO 50001 perspective, E-BOOST is critical: the calculation of EnPIs for specific utilities is one of the mandatory requirements for companies that decide to implement an EMS compliant with ISO 50001. E-BOOST includes a tool that has been specifically developed for the EnPIs required by the certification manual.