10 measures to reduce energy consumption in the company

The first essential step is to carry out a complete energy audit.

This in-depth analysis, known as an energy audit, involves a methodical examination of industrial facilities and processes. It precisely measures the energy consumption of each piece of equipment, in order to clearly identify the actions to be taken.

It identifies the most energy-intensive equipment and processes, detects technical or operational failures, and highlights possible improvements.

The results enable us to draw up a clear, customized action plan aimed at reducing energy consumption, cutting operating costs and improving overall energy performance. On average, implementing the recommendations resulting from an energy audit can generate substantial savings ranging from 15% to 25% of annual energy expenditure.

Efficient management of industrial utilities such as compressed air, steam, chilled water and other process fluids is essential to optimize energy performance. These fluids are indispensable in activities such as air conditioning, cooling, mechanical power generation and heat transfer.

Compressed air, for example, represents a major consumption item. Leaks, poorly adjusted pressure or excessive production lead to significant overconsumption. By reducing pressure by 1 bar, energy savings of around 7% can be achieved. This optimization can also be applied to steam and chilled water, by reducing pressure, limiting leakage and adjusting temperature to improve overall energy efficiency. The use of suitable flowmeters enables losses to be pinpointed, parameters to be adjusted and overall plant efficiency to be improved. Optimized management can generate energy savings of up to 20% on this item.

It is also essential to analyze pressure losses in piping networks. By simplifying certain pipes, pressure is reduced, pump effort is reduced and unnecessary energy losses are limited, thus enhancing energy efficiency.

Optimized management of industrial fluids relies on precise measurement solutions tailored to every need. Fuji Electric offers a complete range of flowmeters:

• Ultrasonic flowmeters: available in intrusive and non-intrusive versions, they measure liquids with the utmost precision. Non-intrusive models do not interrupt processes, while intrusive models enable direct measurements more suited to certain industrial environments.
• Electromagnetic flowmeters: ideal for conductive liquids, they guarantee stable, reliable readings.
• Differential pressure flowmeters with depressurizer: ideal for gases, vapors or liquids, they use a depressurizer to measure flow variations in pipes with high accuracy.

These tools help optimize the management of industrial utilities, improve overall energy performance and sustainably reduce operating costs.

Waste heat is the thermal energy produced by an industrial process, often lost in the form of hot air, hot water or steam. Often regarded as a waste, this heat has considerable energy-saving potential. In France, ADEME estimates that industry represents an average of 109.5 TWh of waste heat potential, or more than a third of its total fuel consumption. By recovering and reusing waste heat, industrial companies can significantly reduce their overall energy consumption, while also reducing their environmental footprint.

Waste heat is recovered using heat exchangers. These capture the available heat, then efficiently transfer it to other industrial processes, to heating networks or directly to heat buildings.

Thermal energy meters play a key role in the process of recovering energy from waste heat. These thermal energy metering devices precisely measure the amount of energy recovered through heat transfer fluids, enabling industries to accurately assess their energy efficiency and quantify savings.

Industrial insulation involves thermally insulating pipes, tanks and networks to limit heat loss. This insulation prevents energy loss to the surrounding environment, particularly for hot or cold fluids.

Insulation is achieved using specific insulating materials, such as rock wool, technical foams or insulating shells. These devices are installed around equipment carrying or containing thermal energy.

Insulating installations is simple to implement, inexpensive and delivers immediate energy savings. It also extends equipment life by limiting sudden temperature changes.

Heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems are among the biggest energy consumers in industry. They maintain thermal conditions adapted to the comfort of occupants or the stability of industrial processes.

Efficient control of these systems prevents temperature drifts and unnecessary over-consumption. Appropriate control limits consumption peaks and promotes more stable operation of heating equipment.

To meet these regulation and performance challenges, Fuji Electric's range of temperature control units gives you precise control over heating and cooling. Available in single-phase and three-phase versions, they provide optimum temperature control in premises or industrial processes.

Thanks to their intelligent control system, these units reduce energy consumption caused by temperature variations. They contribute to more stable, efficient and economical operation of heating equipment.

Among the levers for reducing energy consumption in industry, the optimization of boilers and combustion systems occupies a strategic position. This action relies on close monitoring of combustion gases to adjust parameters in real time.

To reinforce this combustion optimization, the ZSS laser gasanalyser and ZPA infrared gasanalyser , continuously measure CO and O₂ concentrations in flue gases from boilers.

This data enables combustion to be precisely controlled. By optimizing the air and fuel injected, these systems guarantee optimum energy efficiency. They help reduce losses, pollutant emissions and fuel consumption, while extending equipment life.

Integrating these instrumentation solutions into combustion plants helps to improve boiler performance, reduce operating costs and actively contribute to sustainable energy management.

Automated energy control means intelligently regulating the consumption of industrial equipment according to actual needs. This avoids the waste associated with a constant power supply that is not adapted to production cycles.

Fuji Electric variable speed drives enable the speed of electric motors to be adjusted in real time. The inverters modulate the frequency and voltage sent to the motor according to the load required. This modulation reduces energy consumption and mechanical wear on equipment.

Precise management of heating power and the electrification of industrial processes represent an important lever for improving energy efficiency. To meet these needs, APR power controllers can be used to precisely adapt the power of heating equipment and support the gradual electrification of installations, thus contributing to better control of overall consumption.

By adapting machine operation to demand, these solutions contribute to a significant reduction in electricity consumption. They also guarantee optimum efficiency and more stable production over the long term.

Lighting accounts for a significant proportion of energy consumption at industrial sites. Optimized lighting management can reduce costs while guaranteeing visual comfort adapted to different activities.

Fuji Electric offers a range of power controllers designed to precisely modulate lighting power. These devices automatically adjust lighting intensity according to actual needs, thus avoiding over-consumption.

Thanks to these intelligent controllers, companies can optimize their installations, extend equipment life and achieve sustainable energy savings, while improving overall shop floor energy efficiency.

An energy management system (EMS) is a structured approach to monitoring, analyzing and optimizing a company's energy consumption. It is based on a continuous improvement process to identify potential energy savings.

The main aim of an EMS is to ensure sustainable, efficient management of energy resources, using measurement, monitoring and control tools. Energy performance indicators (EPI) complete the system by measuring consumption, identifying waste and prioritizing corrective actions.

Digital solutions such as human-machine interfaces (HMI) and associated supervision software provide real-time visualization of energy consumption. Combined with EPI, they provide precise data to assess the effectiveness of measures and guide decision-making.

This equipment facilitates the implementation of an energy management system (EMS) by centralizing data from industrial processes. Thanks to an intuitive interface, they can quickly detect drifts, optimize settings and monitor performance.

The HMI interface associated with the supervision software enables energy managers to effectively control their facilities and make decisions based on reliable, up-to-date data.

Predictive maintenance is based on real-time analysis of equipment data to anticipate failures before they occur.

It avoids unscheduled downtime and extends machine life.

Predictive maintenance relies on specialized services capable of analyzing technical data from equipment in real time. These services help to identify malfunctions before they lead to breakdowns or excessive energy consumption.

This enables maintenance teams to plan interventions at the right time, avoiding unscheduled stoppages. This approach optimizes plant availability and extends its lifespan, while reducing the energy costs associated with malfunctions.

At Fuji Electric, we offer customized maintenance contracts to support companies in monitoring their installations. These services include performance monitoring and regularcalibration of measuring instruments to ensure accuracy and optimize energy consumption.

Expertise in industrial maintenance also enables us to optimize equipment settings and make processes more reliable. This contributes to a sustainable reduction in energy consumption, while improving production quality.

Using renewable energies means you can produce part of your electricity or heat needs locally. This reduces dependence on fossil fuels and limits greenhouse gas emissions.

Companies can install solar photovoltaic panels, biomass cogeneration units or biogas recovery systems. These installations can cover a significant proportion of an industrial site's energy consumption.

By stabilizing energy costs over the long term, renewable energies reduce vulnerability to fluctuations in the energy market. They also provide access to financial support and tax breaks.

Integrating renewable energies into an industrial site's energy strategy enhances its environmental image. It meets regulatory compliance and energy transition objectives in line with CSR commitments, while actively contributing to the fight against climate change.

Actions to reduce energy consumption concern all industrial sectors, whatever their size, processes or specific constraints.

The measures presented in this article apply to all industrial sectors:

• chemical and petrochemical industry,
• the food industry,
• the metallurgical industry,
• the plastics industry,
• energy production, 
• etc.

Every company can take simple, effective action to reduce its energy consumption, while optimizing its production processes.

The Energy Savings Certificates (CEE) scheme is a national program designed to encourage companies to reduce their energy consumption. It provides financial support for certain energy-efficiency actions undertaken as part of the energy transition.

The following in particular are eligible for CEE financing:

• Fuji Electric motor control systems: these devices regulate motor consumption and optimize motor efficiency.
• Variable speed drives that adjust power consumption to actual needs, avoiding unnecessary over-consumption.
• Energy Performance IndicatorEPI) measurement systems: these data collection solutions make it possible to effectively monitor and improve the energy efficiency of industrial facilities.

These grants reduce investment costs and facilitate the implementation of sustainable solutions. They encourage industrial companies to adopt high-performance technologies and accelerate their energy efficiency actions, while optimizing their return on investment.