Possibilities for CO2-neutral manufacturing with attractive energy costs

In Germany, energy costs for small and medium-sized enterprises are increasing despite declining power prices on the European Energy Exchange (EEX) resulting from levies, surcharges, and taxes. In order to reduce energy costs in manufacturing companies, the self-supply using renewable energies is becoming a viable option for an increasing number of companies. This article therefore uses a case study approach to investigate whether the investment in renewable power plants for (partial) self-supply could be financially beneficial. Using a specifically developed simulation, scenarios have been created to show various energy supply options to satisfy the energy demand of a medium-sized manufacturing company. The scenarios range from a complete energy supply obtained from an external provider to the other extreme of a complete and therefore autarkic supply from a virtual power plant (VPP). All scenarios work with a balanced demand and supply, at 15-min intervals over a period of one year during which demand is the determining factor. The scenarios are based on real case data for energy demand, measured local weather data, and realistically calculated data for the VPP. Depending on the scenario, the proposed VPPs consist of power plants using wind, solar, and biomass as primary energies, and thermal and electric storage. The results show that compared to the full provision of energy through a local energy provider, adopting a partial self-supply of renewable energy is a very attractive option in financial terms.