Tokyo, Japan - January 5, 2018
New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization
Yokogawa Electric Corporation
The Japan Research Institute, Limited
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Incorporated
NEDO; Yokogawa Electric Corporation; the Japan Research Institute, Limited; and Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Incorporated have launched a project to demonstrate the effectiveness of energy management systems (EMSs) at an aluminum product factory and a textile spinning mill factory in Guangdong Province, China. An advanced EMS can control energy supply and demand while improving production efficiency, leading to significant energy saving. During the project, an EMS will be introduced at the two factories and part of the existing facilities will be upgraded to be more energy efficient.
The project will also demonstrate the feasibility of using advanced demand response to optimize the production efficiency of each factory by coordinating demand of the two factories through the EMSs.
Coinciding with the launch of the project, project implementation documents were exchanged and panels outlining the project were displayed at the Eleventh Japan-China Energy Conservation and Environment Forum held on December 24, 2017.
1. Overview
China has become the world's largest energy consumer in recent years. In response to this, China's National Development and Reform Commission has set ambitious energy conservation targets for Guangdong and other provinces as part of its national policy measures. Energy intensive industries such as petrochemicals, paper, textiles, heavy chemicals, electronics, automobile and other manufacturing industries as well as hospitals and office buildings are included in the government's energy saving targets.
NEDO carries out projects in cooperation with foreign national and local governments and public organizations in order to promote energy technologies and systems that have been developed and introduced in Japan. The aim of NEDO's projects is to demonstrate that Japanese energy technologies can be effective outside of Japan and to support private sector companies in disseminating such technologies.
Against this backdrop, NEDO, Yokogawa, JRI and TEPCO organized a project to demonstrate the effectiveness of energy management systems (EMSs) *1 at an aluminum product factory and a textile spinning mill factory in Guangdong Province, China. An advanced EMS can control energy supply and demand while improving production efficiency, leading to significant energy saving. During the project, an EMS will be introduced at each of the two factories and part of the existing facilities will be upgraded to be more energy efficient. Considering that power supply and demand control is planned in China in the future, the project also includes a simulation to verify the feasibility of advanced demand response*2 aiming to optimize the production efficiency of each factory by coordinating demand through the EMSs.
As part of its FY2017 project activities, NEDO completed work related to a detailed feasibility study at the demonstration sites by the end of June. On September 29, 2017, NEDO concluded a memorandum of understanding with the National Development and Reform Commission. Yokogawa, JRI and TEPCO subsequently reached agreement with Pacific (Panyu) Textiles Limited and Guangdong Huachang Aluminum Co., Ltd. regarding use of the demonstration sites and with China Southern Power Grid Company Limited regarding management of the demonstration sites.
The three entrusted Japanese companies exchanged project implementation documents with the three Chinese companies participating in the project and panels outlining the project were exhibited at the Eleventh Japan-China Energy Conservation and Environment Forum held in Tokyo on December 24, 2017.
2. Demonstration activities
The following activities will be carried out at the aluminum product factory and textile spinning mill factory in Guangdong Province, China.
- Installation of EMSs and replacement of existing equipment in order to comprehensively improve the supply of energy, production process yield, etc. and demonstrate the effectiveness of the systems.
(1) Improvement of the energy supply to maximize the operational efficiency of power generators, steam generators and the like
(2) Improvement of the production process to maximize production efficiency through analysis of energy consumption during the production process
(3) Improvement of facilities by installing advanced energy-efficient equipment such as high performance heat pumps
Figure 1 System overview - When a request is received by a factory from a power distribution company such as China Southern Power Grid Company Limited to adjust its electricity supply and demand, the request will be aggregated through the EMSs installed at the factories in order to prepare a plan for optimizing overall energy efficiency. Based on this plan, verification is conducted using a simulation to confirm that demand response allowing the factory to minimize a decline in productive efficiency is possible.
3. Project structure
The purpose of the demonstration project is not only to demonstrate that advanced Japanese EMSs can effectively be used in China, but also to showcase Japan's advanced technology. To this end, the technologies of the three entrusted companies will be integrated to carry out the project. Yokogawa will efficiently operate power generation facilities and steam generators through EMSs and contribute to continuous energy conservation. JRI will develop novel production processes to improve production efficiency based on an analysis of the energy consumption of the two factories. TEPCO will upgrade the facilities of each factory in accordance with an analysis of equipment energy consumption.
Figure 2 Project structure
4. Participation in the Japan-China Energy Conservation and Environment Forum
At the Eleventh Japan-China Energy Conservation and Environment Forum held on December 24, 2017, project implementation documents were exchanged by the Japanese and Chinese companies participating in the project. Panels outlining the project were also exhibited to promote the project to visitors from China and Japan.
NEDO and the National Development and Reform Commission signed a memorandum of understanding to deepen the framework of cooperation and reinforce exchanges of personnel and technologies between China and Japan.
On the Japanese side, the forum was attended by representatives from NEDO, Yokogawa Electric, JRI and TEPCO. On the Chinese side, attendees included managers from the National Development and Reform Commission, China Southern Power Grid Energy Efficiency and Clean Energy Co., Ltd., Pacific (Panyu) Textiles Limited, and Guangdong Huachang Aluminum Co., Ltd. In addition, many other persons involved with the project attended the forum.
5.Next step
During the demonstration period up to the end of FY2020, the system and facilities will be designed, built, transported, installed, and undergo commissioning. After installation, the systems and facilities will be operated to verify the practicability and effectiveness of energy technology systems. Dissemination activities, such as holding seminars, are planned with the aim of promoting widespread use of the technology across China.
Notes:
*1 Energy management system (EMS)
A system that controls the flow, production and consumption of energy in a factory to achieve efficient energy use.
*2 Demand response
Changes in power usage by end users from their normal consumption patterns to curb their usage when there is a concern with the reliability of a power grid.
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