Industrial Cluster FLEXibility platform for sustainable FACTories to reduce CO2 emissions and to enable the Energy Transition

Project Information

FLEX4FACT

Grant agreement ID: 101058657

DOI

10.3030/101058657

Project closed

EC signature date 18 May 2022

Start date 1 June 2022

End date 30 November 2025

Funded under

• Digital, Industry and Space

Total cost

€ 21 210 643,75

EU contribution

€ 17 997 020,00

Coordinated by

SINTEF AS
Norway

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - FLEX4FACT (Industrial Cluster FLEXibility platform for sustainable FACTories to reduce CO2 emissions and to enable the Energy Transition)

Reporting period: 2023-12-01 to 2024-11-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

“Europe wants to be climate-neutral by 2050, and renewable energy is becoming increasingly important. The aim of FLEX4FACT is to develop an end-to-end ecosystem that increases the flexibility of production processes and energy flows in Europe, from North to South. In this project, digital twins (DTs) and machine learning techniques are used to increase production flexibility and manage complex operational scenarios. The FLEX4FACT technology development strategy takes a modular approach to create a rich framework of development opportunities for the energy transition in which all stakeholders can participate and benefit.
Currently, complex process industries and the mixed cluster and distributed renewable energy flows segment are not covered. In fact, at least three key elements of the FLEX4FACT approach differ from current offerings:
1. Enabling industrial flexibility through digital process twinning and machine learning techniques to tackle complex operational scenarios and realise the full potential of the selected industrial cases.
2. The end-to-end approach of the FLEX4FACT aggregator platform, covering the full range of technologies required to achieve the results.
3. A modular and multi-tiered approach that utilises flexible, hybrid architectures, open protocols and standard interfaces. This enables greater flexibility of the system itself and the associated service offerings, removes barriers to entry for providers in the value chain and ensures data communication with existing legacy IT systems.
As a digital enabler for flexible energy consumption, the FLEX4FACT platform will meet the needs of companies of all sizes, including SMEs, which are affected by rising energy prices and have less "financial muscle" to deploy a combination of IT, production, and energy solutions.
The project includes five different use cases, two of which are in the process industry with high energy consumption and three in the discrete manufacturing industry with different challenges in terms of control systems or surplus flows.
The FLEX4FACT project consists of a balanced European consortium in which critical technologies are developed and implemented by multiple partners in five different industrial contexts.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

FLEX4FACT will develop five industrial use cases, CELSA, INAVENTA SOLAR, SEAC, SPS, and THEBEN, and focuses on cyber-physical systems with digital twins and advanced scheduling algorithms for process and energy flexibility, enabling seamless end-to-end communication with a smart data architecture. FLEX4FACT will implement a range of cutting-edge technologies aimed at advancing industrial processes. Applying data acquisition technologies (such as IoT sensors) to enable continuous time monitoring and edge computing techniques, combined with progressive real-time monitoring provides invaluable insights into manufacturing processes and is part of the research. Furthermore, a Sankey Diagram approach for energy flow mapping in the industry is adopted, ensuring a more accurate and detailed representation of energy flows within industrial operations.
At the cluster level, models and algorithms are introduced for internal/external market dynamics and ancillary services to grid operators. The Industrial Cluster Flexibility Platform is under development to provide demand response services, cluster optimization, and forecast services. This open and flexible platform is designed to bridge the existing gap in manufacturing technology, enabling the full adoption and exploitation of Industry 4.0 technologies.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The initial mapping includes outlining critical objectives. Subsequently, we have developed a reference architecture for FLEX4FACT at system level. This includes design principles, the main components of the system, and their interrelationships in a simplified manner.
We are presently engaging in the development of TO-BE scenarios, establishing an end-to-end communication, and implementing a digital twin to enhance manufacturing and energy flexibility.
FLEX4FACT will develop the SanFlex Decision Support Tool (DST), which visualises the energy flow to be used in the industrial use cases in production processes, based on Sankey Diagrams and loaded with real time data. Data of cost and CO2 has potential impact of improved flexibility and enables the user to understand the energy flow. Improved flexibility or on-site energy integration of distribution, consumption, and reuse with a user-friendly interface has also been developed. The results are presented in the form of side-by-side Sankey diagrams reflecting the energy flows in baseline and modified processes. This approach identifies flexibility and supports the decision-making for managers and operators.
We are working on a final version of the SanFlex tool, which will include an option to input data, allowing analysis of further case studies and general application. Digital twin development solutions are also in progress; capturing the mathematical models and algorithms of the industrial processes in each use-cases. The energy flexibility algorithm will be able to perform day-ahead scheduling of processes. The progress of energy process flow, storage and automatic scheduling to all the five use-cases is under development. A market analysis of electric tariff forecast together with an edge solution to the companies involved and an aggregator platform for the cluster development are future outlook for the project, but a Beta version is already up and running.

Picture of Flex4Fact Rollup

Flex4Fact Poster

Flex4Fact Flyer in English (eksist in Italian, Spanish, German and Norwegian)