Efficient use of energy
Metal processing is an energy intensive-business – this also applies to Wippermann. It is therefore particularly important for us to consider the efficient supply and use of energy. Accordingly, we have specifically optimised our energy consumption in recent years.
Today, we meet our energy needs with electricity and gas. Around 65 per cent of electricity we use comes from renewable sources. In order to generate a significant portion of our electricity needs ourselves, we are currently investigating the installation of photovoltaic systems on our factory premises.
Reducing Energy Consumption Through Investment
Since the introduction of the energy management system in 2014, we have been able to gradually reduce our energy needs through targeted investments in energy-saving technologies and measures. A key approach has been the modernisation of our production furnaces, resulting in a reduction of natural gas consumption in production by around 50%. Furthermore, we have equipped our production halls with new insulation. This was also possible in the case of a listed historic wooden roof. We have also invested in new infrared radiant heaters for our halls and, since 2016, gradually in new LED lighting in the production halls. With these measures, we have achieved annual energy savings of around 600,000 kWh of electricity and 5,000,000 kWh of natural gas, which in our energy mix equates to a reduction of around 3,000 tonnes of CO2.
Multiple Use of Thermal Energy
In our hardening shop, where the chain elements pass through hardening furnaces, we already achieved significant savings in 2012 by installing a heat exchanger in the exhaust pipe of the furnaces. In 2022, we commissioned another type of heat recovery system that is state of the art: The up to 400°C hot waste gas from our endogas generators, used to produce the process gas for our furnaces, is fed into a sophisticated heat recovery system. The energy recovered from the process waste heat is used to provide hot water for the staff washrooms and to heat the entire administration building. The new plant is expected to generate up to 400 MWh per year, saving on the conventional energy mix. This corresponds to a CO2 reduction of around 85 tonnes. Further approaches to reusing energy in the manufacturing process and thus reducing CO2 emissions are in the pipeline.