Energisamarbete Väst is an initiative of Vattenfall and is a co-operation between the district heating plants in Vänersborg and Trollhättan and the Alloys industry, which manufactures metal alloys.
Less heat demand than available production capacity
Alloys supplies high-quality waste heat from its industry to the district heating network in Vänersborg. Thanks to this, the heat that can be provided in the network often exceeds the heat demand in the city. The surplus heat from Vänersborg's network is then delivered through a seven-kilometre underground pipeline to Trollhättan. At times when it is considered more optimal or if no waste heat is received at certain times, such as during maintenance stops, the heat can also be transported in the opposite direction.
Common roadmap with economic and environmental savings
With the identified current situation, there was assessed to be a high optimisation potential. It was estimated that there was an opportunity to save a lot of money and environmental impact by identifying the most optimal production mode in terms of weather and production unit availability. With the help of AbS (Aurora by Sigholm), the three partners were able to develop a joint production schedule that had the potential to predict the conditions of the coming days and offer transparency in communication about the current situation.
Automation and visualisation for higher quality assurance
In addition to production optimisation, AbS has also supported Energisamarbete Väst in distributing the revenue for the operational benefits provided by the collaboration, with a monthly settlement. With the help of AbS, the settlement is automated and visualised in an understandable way, where the operational benefit is assessed as the theoretical savings provided by the collaboration. Automating the calculation process, where the alternative is to do a manual calculation, saves a lot of time and provides a higher quality assurance. With a common visualisation of the roadmap, production outcomes and operational benefits in AbS, transparency and awareness of the value of the collaboration is increased.
The article was published 18/03 - 2020
