Pilot exchange of energy and utility flows between companies in Rotterdam industrial cluster
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A previous feasibility study by the Port of Rotterdam Authority and Yokogawa Electric Corporation shows that optimizing the use of energy and utilities at companies can yield cost savings of between 5% and 10%.
By doing so, energy consumption can be optimized ‘behind the meter’. Companies that have steam as a by-product can then choose to increase their production at the right time, for example, when a neighboring company is in need of more steam. This reduces heat losses and can prevent or reduce congestion in the electricity grid. With these results, Port of Rotterdam, Yokogawa/KBC and Distro Energy are now launching a pilot at scale for one year with companies in the port industrial cluster.
Up to six companies and two grid operators are participating in the pilot. The companies' energy related data will be used to set up an orchestration platform enabling companies to coordinate the use and exchange of multiple utilities among themselves. That ‘’coordination‘’ will still be virtual during this pilot, but it will be the first time such data will be exchanged at industrial scale. This secure exchange of data is crucial in the project. To channel the data flows, an industrial cloud infrastructure is available to the participating companies. On top of that, a cluster energy management system by Yokogawa/KBC ensures the optimization of energy flows. The commercial valuation of the exchange between the companies and the energy markets then takes place on Distro Energy's trading platform. This way both the different energy gains and losses, as well as the CO2 effect are given a value.
The pilot will start at the end of this year and run over the course of one year, in order for all seasonal fluctuations to be taken into account. A similar demonstration within a cluster of companies in Japan showed that the cluster as collective performed better than individual companies. This meant that some companies were able to save a lot of energy and costs, while others came out slightly more expensive. There has to be compensation for that. For that matter, the project is not only a technical exercise, but also a social experiment. How will the management of the companies deal with performance improvements or deteriorations?
Previous studies have proven benefits with theoretical figures, but to really take a step towards practice, a pilot at this scale is needed. Therefore, the Port of Rotterdam is tackling this pilot with an investment of around €2 million. Called the Starlings project, the pilot takes its name from a flock of starlings that move as a flexible cloud for safety reasons because the group is less vulnerable than the individual. The birds adjust their movement and speed in relation to the birds flying closest to them.
The first results of the pilot are expected mid-2025. If these are sufficiently positive and lead to the intended resilience of the cluster and to energy, CO2 and cost savings, it will be decided, together with the market, how the follow-up may be designed.