Web-zero carbon emissions. That’s what Renault Group has pledged to realize at its ElectriCity hub and Cléon plant by 2025 then all through its industrial operations by 2030. It’s tackling the problem from two angles: gravitating in direction of low-carbon vitality and enhancing vitality effectivity. The important thing for the second is the power to observe and regulate plant consumption in actual time. That was a sizeable problem for Renault Group’s groups on the bottom. They usually pulled it off with Ecogy, a portal developed in-house in report time and now up, operating and delivering outcomes. So what’s Ecogy? How is it used? What sort of concrete measures has caused and the way a lot vitality is it really saving? Take the tour, with Sébastien and Xavier.

Driving a automotive with out a dashboard: that, figuratively talking, is how Renault Group can be managing electrical energy consumption at its industrial vegetation with out the Ecogy portal. This software, which measures consumption in actual time then processes and analyses the info, is significant to enhance every plant’s vitality efficiency and, on the finish of the day, assist the Group attain its net-zero carbon emissions goal. Our two specialists present you why Ecogy is so important.

“We had arrange many compressed-air, gasoline and electrical energy meters over time. So we had a clearer image of our consumption and will establish alternatives to save lots of vitality extra precisely. However that wasn’t sufficient: we nonetheless needed to mine all that knowledge. To assist us try this, we developed a brand new digital software in-house, in lower than six months, that analyses outcomes very quick: Ecogy.”

Sébastien, Decarbonisation chief, Cléon plant

The stakes are big

Sébastien doesn’t beat concerning the bush: “Industrial vegetation use large quantities of vitality as a matter after all.” In 2021, Renault Group’s vegetation in Europe consumed 4 TWh, together with 2.1 TWh in France. That’s sufficient to energy a metropolis with 2.2 million individuals for a 12 months – a metropolis the scale of Paris, say.

“These figures provide you with a way of the large stakes related to enhancing vitality efficiency at Renault Group vegetation,” provides Xavier, an professional in innovation and digital know-how utilized to business.

Realizing how a lot a plant consumes in complete is one factor. However then you definitely nonetheless want to determine what consumes what and the way. And the system for that needed to be constructed from the bottom up.

Industrial equipment is energy-intensive: listed below are just a few examples

The start line: metering consumption on the manufacturing facility ground

Step one in Renault Group’s vitality effectivity technique – and the primary constructing block within the system that has grown into the Ecogy portal – was becoming 10,000 sensors in workshops (together with 1,500 in 2022) and connecting 8,500 processes to the cloud, largely in vegetation but in addition in workplaces (Technocentres).

“At Cléon, we arrange 2,500 electrical energy meters and 15 gasoline and compressed air meters,” Sébastien remembers. “That’s the place our vitality administration journey began!”

“This gigantic array gave us a transparent image of our vitality consumption on a big scale, and added a bit extra granularity – in a full plant and in a person workshop. We had by no means had a lot data,” Sébastien smiles.

“At Cléon, the place we make engines, the readings confirmed that heating the furnaces within the foundry is what consumes essentially the most vitality – by far.”

Heating additionally explains why the paint store consumes 39% of all of the vitality in a bodywork meeting unit. Machining (together with meeting) comes second (16%) and heating for buildings third (10%).

Power consumption breakdown in a bodywork meeting unit

The problem: monitor all consumption, on a regular basis, in actual time

“The sensors within the plant ship their knowledge to the cloud 24/7,” says Sébastien. “That’s a colossal quantity of information. Then, to cluster, course of, analyse and handle that knowledge, we actually wanted a software to interchange the one which we needed to cease utilizing on 1 August – and wanted it quick. We developed Ecogy in-house, round our precise necessities,” he remembers.

Renault Group’s groups started working, pooled their experience, and constructed the Ecogy portal in lower than six months. It’s a single gateway to trace every little thing a plant consumes: electrical energy, air, water, gasoline, and many others. It went dwell on 1 August 2022, crowning a exceptional show of teamwork!

Ecogy is efficient, simple to make use of and every little thing else it wanted to be. Greater than 350 customers at the moment are managing and analysing the info that the sensors acquire. The 33 vitality leads (like Sébastien) meet as soon as every week to share finest practices, discuss their particular objectives, flow into the customized dashboards they’ve created (2,000 and counting) and share recommendation.

“Ecogy provides a lot greater than uncooked knowledge! You should utilize it to generate your personal dashboards utilizing no matter parameters you need, set overconsumption alerts, cross-reference consumption and different elements just like the climate, examine consumption in varied related amenities, and many others.,” Sébastien enthuses.

“We’re utilizing Ecogy to oversee all our vegetation, and spot any deviations or anomalies. Once we do, we glance into them to seek out the trigger and take a number of corrective measures as quickly as attainable,” a proud Sébastien provides.

As shrinking carbon footprints and saving vitality go hand in hand, the platform retrieves knowledge from vitality suppliers too. “Sharing data like this helps everybody – for instance it retains everybody within the loop if the gasoline community is below strain,” Sébastien continues.

The outcomes: energy-saving measures are already being taken

“The Ecogy portal zeroed in on many alternatives to optimise vitality use at industrial amenities. And it quickly began measuring the enhancements too,” Xavier beams.

At Batilly, which makes Grasp LCVs, sensors now regulate the warm-air curtains by the fast-action roll-up doorways connecting the constructing to the skin. This method has lower warmth loss by 80% and is saving the equal of €80,000 a 12 months.

At Sandouville, which makes Trafic vans, velocity variators have been fitted onto the electrical motors that drive the welding items. Just by adapting the tempo of the method, these gadgets lowered consumption by 7%.

At Cléon (engines and transmissions), sensors helped to identify irregular air con settings in a single piece of equipment. Resetting the system again to regular swiftly put an finish to the vitality overconsumption it brought about.

Utilizing an air sensor to detect any compressed air leaks in installations 

The prospects and prospects: digital know-how enhancing vitality efficiency

“We now have a 12 months’s value of 24/7 consumption knowledge from the 25 websites. This mine of data is extraordinarily invaluable to handle vitality efficiency with state-of-the-art digital instruments,” Xavier continues. The purpose now could be to ascertain commonplace patterns and begin making projections.

Renault Group is growing a predictive strategy to a plant’s vitality consumption utilizing synthetic intelligence. “We’re nonetheless laying the groundwork, however the purpose is to supply the vegetation with a forecast of their day by day consumption primarily based on their particular operation – for instance, at an meeting plant, primarily based on what number of automobiles it produces,” Xavier provides.

Due to the chances that the Ecogy monitoring software is opening up and the event of synthetic intelligence, Renault Group goals to cut back consumption in any respect its industrial bases by 25% from 2021 to 2025.

Enhancing vitality effectivity and making vegetation extra compact has already lower pollutant emissions by 25%.

Sébastien, Xavier and the remainder of the staff engaged on Renault Group’s vitality effectivity technique have each purpose to be pleased with what they’ve completed. Due to it, Renault Group stands among the many world’s main carmakers on the vitality efficiency rating. 

SOURCE: Renault Group