Producing sugar requires large quantities of energy. That is why Südzucker, Europe's largest sugar producer, places priority on maximizing energy efficiency in its 29 sugar factories and two refineries. This enables the company not only to reduce its costs but also to run more sustainably and make a contribution toward protecting the climate.

This also applies to its Zeitz site in Saxony-Anhaltina. 200,000 metric tons of sugar leave the production plant each year and it works round the clock from the middle of September to the beginning of January. Each kilowatt hour saved in the plant reduces costs noticeably and avoids unnecessary CO2 emissions.

Together with Siemens, Südzucker wanted to identify potential savings in the production of sugar and reliably evaluate the achievable savings. At the same time they inquired about innovative financing.

The investments should finance themselves from the energy cost savings achieved, without restricting the cash flow and without involving traditional bank financing.

Siemens was able to offer Südzucker a complete package of state-of-the-art technology and an innovative financing model. A new SIMOTICS FD motor and speed control via a SINAMICS G150 frequency converter would significantly reduce energy costs. And financing through Siemens Financial Services would enable the investments to be made without the input of equity or third-party capital. According to the plan, the efficient technology should be self-financing. 

SFS financed the investment costs through Energy Performance Contracting (Capex). The customer pays a monthly fee corresponding to part of the energy cost savings, that covers not only the investment costs but also a maintenance contract. 

At the end of the contract period, the customer can buy the installed equipment from Siemens, and continue saving energy and thus costs. At the beginning of the project, Siemens experts examined the potential savings that a number of drive applications could achieve in Zeitz. 
The first forecast found a potential saving of 30 percent at the secondary fan in the energy control center, which corresponds to more than 700 MWh per year. Detailed analyses, including measurements of the volume of air and the pressure relations in the secondary fan in Zeitz later exceeded even the first estimates. They gave a potential saving of 38.5 percent and thus a reduction of more than 900 MWh per year. The basis of the technical implementation is a converter-optimized SIMOTICS FD motor on the secondary fan, a SINAMICS G150 frequency converter adjusts the speed of the fan to output the volume of air currently required in the plant. This means that the previous control element, the mechanical inlet vane control, can remain permanently open, which contributes significantly toward reducing the energy consumption. 
All the supplies and services came from a single source - Siemens - which led to fewer interfaces and simplified project coordination. 

Energy Performance Contracting (EnPC) for drive applications is an approach that funds an retrofit project from its energy savings. Projects are delivered by a four step process designed to de-risk project development while also providing strong savings certainty. If you want to know more about EnPC please take a look at our service catalog.

Südzucker AG is one of the leading companies in the food industry. Südzucker is Europe's leading supplier of sugar products and is well positioned in the special products, CropEnergies and fruit segments. Headquarter is located in Mannheim, Germany.