DSM_Opt – Demand Side Management: Operation Optimization of Industrial Energy Systems

The decision support system (DSS) comprises of modules for energy efficiency, time of use tariffs and market Demand Response (DR). A What-if tool is used for interactive, manual process planning for plants with low complexity. Optimization together with plant models and objective functions is used for automatic process scheduling. DSM/DSS are implemented at two case studies at the steel mill Marienhütte and the bakery Sorger, where the different modules of the toolbox will be tested, validated and showcased. In short term at Marienhütte the application of the DSS toolbox should achieve cost savings of 2-5 % per ton of steel. In the long term, energy efficiency should be increased by 10%. Bakery Sorger plans to cut electric supply costs by 15 to 20% as well as to increase the energy efficiency by 10%.

DSM_OPT is part of the NEFI model region that focuses on energy intensive and manufacturing industries and their decarbonisation with the aim of a long-term innovation process to boost technological development. In Austria industry is responsible for about 1/3 of total final energy consumption. Together with the energy sector, industry causes about 45 % of Austria’s greenhouse gas emissions. Energy efficiency and CO2-emissions reduction measures in this sector are therefore crucial to meet the CO2-reduction goals of the COP21 agreement in Paris.

DSM can support industrial companies to better integrate variable renewable energy and at the same time reduce the strains on the energy infra-structure (e. g. the electricity grid) by the optimized scheduling of energy production units and consumers in industrial plants. As an additional advantage, the required storage capacities can be reduced. The DSM DSS to be developed shall allow to apply different DSM programmes, from energy efficiency (EE), time-of-use (TOU) tariffs to market demand response. To satisfy the requirements of different customers, What-If tools and optimization methods are employed. What-If tools are small-scale DSM DSS for manual process scheduling. They suit best for EE and TOU in plants with a simple process layout. Optimization methods suit for automatic process scheduling in complex plants and markets.