Effective energy management at BFG
Green energy and reduced CO2 emissions is our aim. Not just within BFG but throughout Europe so we can achieve the climate target and be climate neutral by 2050. A massive replacement of gas and other fuels with electricity is ongoing and we want to generate this electricity as sustainably as possible.
At the same time, new construction projects are being stalled by the unavailability of power connections. That’s not really surprising because both businesses and consumers are investing massively in their own green energy generation facilities.
Too much demand, too little supply
The increasing number of solar panels, electric vehicles, distribution centres for electric travel and sustainable buildings is putting the electricity network under enormous pressure. Quite simply the electricity grid does not have the network capacity to meet the needs of the business sector. This is known as grid congestion.
Smart Energy Hubs
Smart Energy Hubs (SEH) are created to reduce the power supply shortfall. SEH are regional energy ‘control knobs’, which actually means the distribution/sharing of green electricity. Each region can turn its own ‘knob’ to determine when more or less power is required and by whom. This means companies with a power capacity shortfall can utilise the unused capacity of other companies in the region. You can also store self-generated energy temporarily so it’s available for use later.
Smart Energy Hub at BFG
Innovative solutions are well suited to BFG. Together with engineering company, Aalberts, and battery supplier, Ampowr, BFG’s Technical Services Manager, Werner Helmink, has installed a battery on the Riddererf to cap energy generation and, at the same time, monitor excessive return. Measurement of energy consumption that is accurate to the second plays a key role in this as it gives the battery system the possibility of storing solar energy and using it at another time, thus giving us optimum control of our cooling systems. Thanks to this measure we can also, together with our transport partner Müller, ensure that the electrical trucks are not charged at the same time as our reach trucks. In addition, together with partners in the region, we are looking at a hub for the whole business park.
Sustainable cold and frozen storage in the warehouse
Our plan to expand our warehouse in 2023 meant we had to increase our cooling capacity which, in turn, increased our power consumption. So, we needed more power, which the grid operator could not supply. Luckily we already had a considerable number of solar panels on our roof. We have installed some more so we can supply a lot of power at peak times and we have added an advanced energy management system (EMS) to the battery so we can manage the so-called peak moments and monitor both peaks in energy consumption and energy supply.
This innovative approach not only enables us to manage our own energy needs efficiently, it also means that in the future we will make a positive contribution to the region’s energy network.
Together we will step-by-step make the chain a little more sustainable.
Forwarding foodbusiness.