Activity : Études pour les adhérents

Description : In a context of reducing energy consumption and carbon footprints, system analysis, and particularly the Pinch method, is emerging as an effective solution for optimizing energy use in industrial processes.

This methodology aims to determine the minimum amount of energy required and optimize heat exchanger networks, while minimizing operational and investment costs.

The Pinch method stands out for its strategic approach to improving energy efficiency, contributing to decarbonisation and sustainable resource management.

Implementation of the method comprises 5 steps, the first three of which are detailed in this report:

• Data collection
• Energy diagnosis
• Heat exchanger Network Synthesis
• Performance assessment
• Adjustments

The recommendations put forward in this report are designed to guide players towards optimal implementation, thus fostering significant advances in energy management, process decarbonization and industrial sustainability.

Areas of expertise : Energy Efficiency

Activity : Veille

Description : The ALLICE Alliance has published a new public report on industrial demand-side flexibility in France.

While demand-side flexibility is primarily of financial benefit to industry and the electricity system and contributes to the reliability of the electricity network, it also reduces the carbon content of electricity by
limiting the need to activate peak production resources (gas, coal and oil-fired power stations). 

To achieve its targets, France must increase its industrial demand-side flexibility capacity by 17% by 2030 and double it by 2050. However, by 2023, the industry will not quite achieve its targets and a slowdown in the development of industrial demand-side flexibility is predicted.

The aim of this study is to identify the barriers preventing the adoption of demand-side flexibility in industry and to make proposals about the development of the industrial demand-side flexibility sector in France.

definition of Demand-side flexibility

Demand-side flexibility involves reducing consumers’ electricity demand for a defined period in response to an external signal (for example, a request from the network operator or a price signal). As such, demand-side flexibility is
one of the solutions for managing network imbalances. Today, particularly in France, there are a variety of mechanisms with different contractual conditions which make it possible to take advantage of demand-side flexibility and
to play a role in balancing the electricity network.

The content of this public report is based on a complete study reserved for members, and published in 2024. 

A 4-part report to understand the challenges of Demand-side flexibility

This study’s objectives are to:

• Understand the main barriers preventing the adoption of demand-side flexibility solutions on industrial sites,
• Describe the operational implementation of demand-side flexibility,
• Suggest ways in which to achieve demand-side flexibility targets as identified by the PPE and RTE’s scenarios.
  

This public report is devided in 4 parts:

• Industrial electricity consumption, a tool to increase the flexibility of the French electricity system: The aim of this first part is to give an overview of industrial demand-side flexibility in France: objectives, exploitable resources, remuneration levels, etc.
• The demand-side flexibility value chain and its operational implementation: The second part presents the actors involved in the value chain and the process of implementing demand-side flexibility at an industrial site.
• Technical and economic barriers to be overcome to maximise industrial demand-side flexibility in France: This section lists and details 7 barriers to implementing load shedding for industry.
• Methods, tools and recommendations for industrial and demand-side flexibility players: In this final section, several situations are presented, along with the associated decision making methods.

Areas of expertise : Integration of alternative energies

Activity : Études pour les adhérents

Description : Fouling of heat exchangers is a major obstacle for manufacturers who are reluctant to invest in energy efficiency projects that include waste heat recovery. This report presents a state-of-the-art review of the solutions available to combat heat exchanger fouling and improve the performance of heat recovery systems.

The report describes the different types of fouling (particulate, corrosion, biological, chemical reaction), and the technical and economic implications of this phenomenon. Solutions exist to overcome these drawbacks, starting with the methodology for selecting the right exchanger for the industrial proces.

The choice of exchanger is the first part of the solution, provided its correct sizing. The second part of the solution requires the use of technologies that complement the exchanger.

The methodology used to gather information on existing solutions is based on bibliography in the field, supplemented by interviews with innovative technology solution providers in the sector.

Areas of expertise : Energy Efficiency

Activity : Études pour les adhérents

Description : This study explores the eco-design of industrial processes, highlighting the different approaches and levels of application of this approach. Its main objective is to detail the current state of available methods for mitigating the impact of industrial sites and their manufacturing processes.

Conducted by the Eco-design cluster, the study draws on the sector's expertise, discussions with manufacturers committed to environmental practices, and consultation of scientific articles.

Eco-design is an approach that aims to reduce the environmental impact of a system (product, service, organisation) throughout its life cycle, from the extraction of raw materials to the end of its life.

Although ecodesign has historically been associated with a product-centred approach ("product approach"), it can also be applied to a company as a whole, taking into account all its products, services and processes. This is known as the organisational approach, which takes a holistic view of environmental impacts. This approach can be implemented through the creation of an Environmental Management System (EMS).

The choice of the most appropriate approach must be based on a phase of assessment and identification of the environmental issues relating specifically to the site's industrial activities. Once this assessment phase has been completed, and in order to make it easier to take account of environmental issues, companies can then opt for one of the two approaches.

Areas of expertise : Decarbonisation at a glance

Activity : Études pour les adhérents

Description : The electricity grid requires a constant, real-time balance between production and consumption to ensure good power quality and avoid the risk of blackouts. Load shedding, or demand response, involves reducing the electricity consumption of electricity consumers for a defined period in response to an external signal. 

Industrial load shedding relies on the consumption of industrial sites to provide flexibility to the grid. It is part of a favourable context, driven by the ever-increasing need to balance the grid and the massive electrification of industry, which will increase the pool of available load shedding. Demand response also makes it possible to reduce the carbon intensity of electricity by limiting the need to activate peak production resources.

In 2018, France has set ambitious targets for the development of industrial load shedding: 6.5 GW of load shedding capacity by 2028, with a milestone of 4.5 GW in 2023. However by 2023, the sector is lagging these targets, and the outlook is for a slowdown in the growth of industrial load shedding and an acceleration in the other sectors.

Given the gap between the ambition and the actual development of the industrial load shedding sector, this study aims to detail the operational implementation of demand response by industrial typology, identify the main barriers to uptake and propose solution levers to achieve the reduction targets and trajectories set by the PPE and RTE.

• To achieve these objectives, the study first recalls the industrial load reduction estimated by the ADEME in 2017 and estimates the additional source provided by the electrification of processes, based on a previous ALLICE study.
• The study then details the maturity of each industrial sector based on several comparative criteria: the current use of technical resources, the achievable technical resources and the economic constraints.
• Finally, the study relied on concrete feedback from around fifteen industrial sectors to identify the barriers to the development of load shedding and to propose levers that would allow industry to make its active contribution to balancing the electricity system and thus facilitate its decarbonization.

So far, three groups of industrial sectors have emerged in terms of their maturity and participation in load shedding:

• One group in which load shedding has been fully implemented (e.g. metallurgy),
• Another group in which load shedding has been implemented despite economic and technical obstacles (e.g. chemicals, food processing),
• And a final group of sectors in which load shedding has been implemented only to a limited extent, or not at all (e.g. plastics processing)

In view of these findings, the study makes 7 recommendations aimed at load shedding professionals - both aggregators and network operators - as well as manufacturers, in order to improve the technical and economic conditions of the market and increase the pool of industrial flexibility available in France.

Areas of expertise : Integration of alternative energies

Activity : Veille

Description :

Areas of expertise : Energy Efficiency

Activity : Veille

Description :

Areas of expertise : Business models and financing

Activity : Études pour les adhérents

Description : The rational use of energy, already a significant concern in the context of energy transition for climate change mitigation, has also become a major geopolitical issue in recent years.

Amongst the main technologies that enable energy conservation by harnessing waste heat from processes, combined heat and power (“CHP”) and trigeneration systems simultaneously produce electricity, heat, cooling, or mechanical energy.

The objective of this ALLICE report is to explore the opportunities to improve the performance of waste heat recovery systems, focusing on these technologies (ORC, thermally driven compression cooling, and heating), and to conduct investigations on associated financing solutions.

Areas of expertise : Energy Efficiency

Activity : Études pour les adhérents

Description : Decarbonising industry means transforming current business models into more sustainable ones. A business model is an economic concept that encompasses all of a company's activities, its value creation and its relationships with its stakeholders, from suppliers to customers.

Current business models are mainly based on a traditional linear logic along their value chain: extraction of resources, production of material goods, consumption and end of life. This raises the question of how to transform industrial business models if we are to achieve our carbon neutrality objectives.

There are many examples of companies (both industrial and non-industrial) that have already changed their business model in response to technological, regulatory or market developments.
In particular, the transition to a decarbonising business model involves implementing a corporate strategy that both generates profits and contributes to climate change mitigation.

The aim of this study is to identify decarbonisation business models and to assess their benefits and applicability in industry.

The study was organised into 4 analysis phases:

• Mapping of business models

Definition of the decarbonisation business model concept using the Business Model Canvas representation

• Identification and characterisation of decarbonisation business models

In-depth analysis of the challenges of a selection of business models

• Selection of three business models to be further explored according to their relevance for ALLICE members

Analysis based on existing literature and interviews with manufacturers who have implemented a new model

• Development of recommendations for members

Areas of expertise : Business models and financing

Activity : Études pour les adhérents

Description : The industrial sector accounts for approximately 20% of French energy consumption. Most of this energy consumed, i.e. 435 TWh according to INSEE in 2018, is transformed into heat, with massive losses in its use. As well as being at the heart of the decarbonisation challenge, the issue of waste heat is also proving to be a real lever for industrial competitiveness, against a backdrop of structurally rising energy prices.

To carry out this study, the method chosen was to rely on feedback from the field, to get as close as possible to the people who operate the facilities, design them and make the operational decisions about the relevance of the projects. Around fifteen interviews were conducted with manufacturers, design offices and trade unions.

This report is divided into 3 parts:

• The first part of this report summarises the numerous publications on the subject of waste heat since 2017,
• The second part presents feedback from waste heat recovery projects identified during the study, some of which were the subject of a site visit.
• The final section sets out the recommendations arising from the interviews, site visits, the experience of the authors and the discussions and exchanges that took place during the course of the study

Finally, this study puts forward a number of recommendations based on three major themes, a summary of which is presented in the executive summary.

Areas of expertise : Decarbonisation at a glance