Case: Energy flexibility assessment - a path to lower energy bills

Lack of visibility and understanding of energy flexibilities

The most important game-move a large energy consumer can make is to tap into its energy flexibilities. Energy flexibilities allow a company to optimise the timing of its energy consumption based on fluctuating market prices - in practice, consume less during high prices and more during low prices (read more in our article: Why buy electricity at a high price when you can buy it cheaply?). Using energy flexibilities does not require turning operations on and off; it can mean just reducing or increasing the consumption based on energy prices.  

Energy flexibility assessment to improve visibility and forecasts

An energy flexibility assessment is needed to gain visibility on a company’s energy flexibility potential. UPM Energy does this in close collaboration with the company. The evaluation consists of the following steps:  

1. Kick-off & scoping (up to 1 month)

Objective: Shared understanding on the objectives, steps, and schedule. Holistic understanding of the operations.

• Kick-off and scoping meetings 
• Project plan
• Interviewing the company’s experts regarding the processes, machinery, business constraints, and energy processes
• Mapping and documenting the processes and dependencies  

2. Design & prototyping (=data analysis) 1-2 months 

Objective: Detailed visibility of energy consumption. First model prototype.

• Slicing the energy consumption to a sub-process level, adding measurement points, if needed
• Analysing what fluctuates energy consumption 
  Identifying processes with consumption flexibility 

3. Implementation (= modelling) 1 month 

Objective: Modelling the flexible consumption model into Beyond Spot

• Agreeing on how to build the model in Beyond Spot, which components are added to it, and how to optimise it
• Coding the model into the Beyond Spot platform

4. Validation (1+ month)

Objective: Verifying the model, start gaining benefits from flexibilities

• Monitoring and validating that the model works as wanted
• Further adjustments, if needed  

5. Cut-over support 

Objective: Ensure stabile system. Hand-over support.

• Monitoring the system stability
• On-going support 
• Knowledge transfer to the customer 

Cost savings, increased visibility, and potential to start trading the flexibilities

Assessing and utilising energy flexibilities gives a company three significant benefits. 
 

1. Money: cost savings and new revenue streams
   • Minimised energy costs, production planning based on financial feasibility
   • Potential additional revenue streams from electricity production or consumption
2. Increased visibility & transparency
   • Visibility to the biggest factors impacting the company’s energy consumption
   • Shared documentation on energy and production process
   • Digital transformation prepares the company to future-proof energy operations
   • Re-thinking the energy operations, challenging the old ways of working 
3. Enabling future trading with flexibilities
   • After identifying and modelling the flexibilities, the company can start trading them automatically
   • The connection to the trading markets does not need to be done right away - it can be done when the company feels ready for it 
      

When done well, energy flexibility assessment and utilisation have no impact on production processes. The customer is always in the driver’s seat, defining the business and manufacturing constraints of the model. Thus, no disruptions are caused to the operations.