Industrial companies spend up to 10 percent of their annual turnover on generating heat and electrical energy. Optimized and innovative solutions are needed to enable companies to manage their heat generation more effectively right now. This is where energy contracting comes into play. We explain the background and advantages of contracting.
Energy contracting can be used to implement efficiency projects in energy management. Companies often do not have the money, time or know-how to analyze and implement more efficient energy supply options. With energy contracting, there is an energy service provider – called a contractor – who takes full responsibility for the implementation of pre-defined energy-saving measures, including planning, financing, conversion, operation and maintenance as well as servicing of the new systems. Energy management also falls within its remit. There are two important subdivisions here:
Energy-saving contracting
Energy-saving contracting takes a holistic view of a building’s technical systems. With what aim? First and foremost, to reduce energy consumption and cut energy costs. The aforementioned contractor plans, implements and finances all measures individually tailored to the property that lead to energy savings – technical, structural and organizational. Typical measures include
- the renewal of the technical building equipment
- the optimization or installation of a building management system
- the use of energy-efficient luminaires
- the use of CHP units and wood chip systems
- the implementation of non-energy-related renovations
In the usual contract period of between 7 and 15 years, high savings potentials with up to 40 percent guaranteed savings are not uncommon in practice. In some cases, even 70 percent and more are possible!
Energy supply contracting
Energy supply contracting differs from energy saving contracting in that the contractor takes on the planning, financing, installation, energy procurement and operational management of the energy generation system. This form of contracting is currently the most frequently used variant. The aim here is to provide energy efficiently. This means that the product is useful energy – heat, electricity, cooling or steam. Remuneration is based on a contractually agreed energy price plus base price and transfer price.
Heat generation via contracting in practice
Depending on a company’s heating requirements, a wide range of heating solutions for new and existing buildings are implemented for the contracting client. The contractor first advises on these individual requirements and then develops the most economical and technically optimal solution. Ideally, the contractor also takes into account all relevant and usable regulatory framework conditions and subsidy programs.
If it is then used, only components from renowned manufacturers should be used. For example, gas condensing boilers, combined heat and power units, gas turbines, heat pumps, fuel cells or steam boilers are installed to generate heat. Decentralized power generation systems such as CHP units or heat pumps are particularly suitable in the current climate, as heat and electricity are generated where they are used by the consumer, independently of the energy market.
In fact, energy contracting not only enables the generation and provision of heat and electricity, but also cooling solutions and air conditioning. The cooling of warehouses or the generation of cold water for machine cooling can therefore be carried out in a resource-saving and, above all, climate-friendly manner. In conjunction with digital, centralized platforms, all energy consumption values can also be read out and further optimized.
Would you also like to take your energy management to a new level? Please feel free to contact us! With its visualization options for energy monitoring, KENEXOS® makes it easy to get started and provides you with all the tools you need for process optimization in construction and building technology, industry and the public sector. Test the centralized, device-independent software solution for documentation, order entry and awarding, process planning and optimization as well as complete team communication now for 14 days free of charge. You can find all the information you need at www.kenexos.com.
About KENEXOS®
With Kreutzpointner Business Software GmbH (KBS for short), Kreutzpointner is setting a significant milestone in the technical development of the entire group of companies. Kreutzpointner Business Software GmbH focuses on the special requirements and digital needs of industrial customers with an independent business model. The operational launch took place in October 2020.
With KENEXOS®, KBS offers corporate customers an individually expandable application platform with its own software products and focuses on the implementation of industrial applications. KENEXOS® offers modern web technology for access via a wide range of end devices and enables integration with existing systems via an API interface. The standard modules include, for example, construction site documentation, task and ticket recording, plant management and maintenance and many more. The application platform is available for in-house installation (on-premise) or as a cloud solution (SaaS).
The ideas and the technical basis for Kreutzpointner Business Software GmbH have been successfully developed in recent years as part of the company-wide “Research & Development” process. In addition to the IT systems division, the new digital unit ideally rounds off Kreutzpointner’s large portfolio.
