Small and medium-sized enterprises are increasingly focusing on their own energy supply, installing their own PV systems, charging stations and storage units. Up to now, energy management has primarily used the flexibility in the classic energy system components. In the course of ‘Industry 4.0,’ however, automation and digitalization are also making the production processes themselves more flexible.

To show how this flexibility in industrial processes can also be harnessed for energy management, a demonstrator for industrial energy management is under development at RIZ Energie. It will be equipped with central components of industrial processes, such as various engine types with frequency converters, compressors, heating and cooling elements, or lighting units. The components are supplemented by an extensive monitoring and automation system as well as a control system. Simultaneously, a so-called digital twin, i. e. a computer simulation of the real system, runs on the control system. This provides the basis for optimized control of the demonstrator through predictive optimization-based control approaches. New methods of industrial energy management can thus be tested and further developed on the demonstrator.