Notice

IETF Phase 1, Spring 2021: competition winners

Updated 13 September 2023

Applies to England, Northern Ireland and Wales

Project ID 14808 - Global Switch Estates

IETF grant offered: £23,625
Project costs: £47,250
Location: London
Study Competition: Data centre centralised cooling system energy efficiency upgrade

Project Overview

This project is a Feasibility Study on an existing data centre cooling system. The objective of the study is to assess the economic and operational (energy and carbon) benefits of a concept design for a cooling system overhaul/retrofit.

Background

Global Switch’s London East was constructed in the early 2000s and was launched in 2002. It was designed as to be highly connected (with direct access to two major subsea cables) and resilient (serving major customers in London). Like many other data centres constructed around this time, energy efficiency was not such a high priority requirement.

However, due to increasing environmental awareness and pressure, several energy efficiency measures have been proposed to positively impact the building energy performance.

Details

The feasibility study is to use CBRE’s Romonet technology (physics-based energy modelling software) to assess the energy/carbon/cost benefit of early retirement of the existing chiller plant on quadrant 2. This will be assessed by first modelling the existing infrastructure, followed by a full assessment of the proposed retrofit; a modern, highly efficient hybrid cooler system.

Energy & Carbon Benefits

Most (if not all) data centres measure building performance using a metric called Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE). PUE is determined by dividing the amount of power entering a data centre by the power used to run the computer infrastructure within it (ideal value of 1).

The aim is to reduce the PUE of the facility from its current annualised performance of 2.0, closer to a desired value of 1.3. The study will analyse the facility in its current state vs if the technologies were to be deployed.

Potential annual carbon savings range from 7,800 tonnes to 9,100 (dependent upon results of feasibility study).

A company spokesperson said: “At Global Switch, we are doing everything we can to improve our business and service to our customers. We are very excited at being chosen for the IETF program as this will allow us to put energy efficiency at the forefront of our plans going forward.”

Project ID 15003 - Interxion Carrier Hotel Ltd

IETF grant offered: £32,766
Project costs: £131,064
Location: London
Study Competition: Data centre cooling system consolidation

This project is an engineering study on an existing data centre cooling system. The objective of the study is to generate detailed design drawings, engineering data and details required to tender and implement a retrofit of the existing cooling system. Currently, the existing cooling system consists of a mixture of Computer Room Air Handlers (CRAH) units that are served by a central chilled water plant and standalone direct expansion (DX) cooling unit. The outcome design details of the project will demonstrate how the standalone DX CRAH unit cooling loads can be served by the central chilled water plant, thus improving overall energy efficiency of the cooling system. This improved cooling plant efficiency will be achieved in two ways:

1) Improve efficiency of the cooling system and data centre after DX units are consolidated onto chilled water plant. The Co-Efficient of Performance (COP) is a common performance metric used to rate performance of cooling equipment and is the ratio of the cooling output of the unit over the electricity used by the unit. A higher COP equates to a more energy efficient cooling system. The average COP of the existing DX cooling system is currently 1.6, whereas the average COP is expected to be able to achieve upwards of 4 if the DX load is moved to the central chilled water plant. This improvement in COP will improve the overall data center operating efficiency.

2) Optimised chilled water plant setpoints and loading. As more load is shifted to the chilled water plant, the plant will become more loaded, which will allow chillers to be staged on/off more efficiently to operate at optimal COPs. Additionally, adjusting setpoints, such as increasing the chilled water setpoints by 1 degree C can be explored and implemented after the consolidation of the cooling loads. This setpoint and loading optimisation will also reflect improved COP and overall efficiency at the data centre.

This study was never deemed feasible previously as the investment cost was too steep. However, with the support of IETF funding, the engineering study is now able to move forward. The combined impact of these two energy efficiency measures, as a result of the study, is expected to be a significant reduction in the energy consumption and the carbon footprint of the data center.

Ryan Bezuidenhout, Engineering Project Manager, Interxion, said: “As an industry, we have eliminated 80% of energy losses with our newer data centre designs. With this aged data centre, we have to rethink the design to allow for newer technologies that improve energy efficiency and lower the carbon footprint. Thankfully, the IETF funding has allowed us to develop a plan to do just that.”

Project ID 15690 - Basell Polyolefins

IETF grant offered: £109,600
Project costs: £313,143
Location: Manchester
Deployment Competition: Energy efficiency project

The LyondellBasell site at Carrington near Manchester has a recirculating cooling water system providing cooling to the Polypropylene plant and associated infrastructure.

The cooling water system comprises four cooling water pumps and eight cooling tower fans. Normally, two cooling water pumps operate along with two to eight fans to provide the correct flow/pressure/temperature of cooling water to the production plant, utilising in the region of 1MW of electricity.

A project has been developed to reduce the electrical consumption of the pumps and fans by installing a Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) in the supply to the high voltage motor of one of the cooling water pumps and in the supply to the low voltage motors of two of the fans.

As the system was originally designed to supply more operating units, the operating pumps supply the required water flow at a higher pressure than is required. Installation of the VFD on one of the pumps will allow the operating pressure to be reduced, thus reducing electrical consumption.

The cooling tower normally operates with between two and eight fans depending on the ambient temperature/humidity and the demand on the cooling system. A previous project installed VFDs on the supply to two of the fans to allow the cooling water supply temperature to be controlled in closed loop control. However, the ambient temperature swings often result in the need to start/stop fans in order to maintain the two variable speed fans within their control range. Therefore, two additional fans will be provided with VFDs (such that one in each of the 4 cells of the cooling tower will be variable speed). This will allow the four VFDs to minimise the speed of the fans without the need to start/stop other fans most of the time, further reducing the electrical consumption.

The project is being funded partly by company capital investment and partly by a grant from the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF).

The Carrington, site manager, Ludovic Museur, said: “The cooling tower energy reduction project allows the site to reduce its variable costs which is particularly important with the trend in increasing electricity prices. The project also helps to reduce the indirect CO2 emissions associated with production, which is a key sustainability goal. The IETF grant has been critical in unlocking the capital investment from within the company by improving the return of the project.”

Project ID 15890 - Dunbia (UK)

IETF grant offered: £1,025,100
Project costs: £2,278,000
Location: Carmarthenshire, Wales
Deployment Competition: Llanybydder heat pump application

Dunbia (UK), a division of Dawn Meats, is a leading food processor, providing quality fresh and frozen meat products for retail and foodservice customers in the UK and European and global export markets.

The nature of the processing activity undertaken at Dunbia’s plant in Llanybydder, which is one of the largest in Europe, requires a significant demand for thermal energy to meet hygiene requirements both for the harvesting of edible products and hot water washing of the food processing areas to comply with industry standards.

Heat generation at the site is currently provided by means of a gas oil fired steam boiler. This project will provide an upgrade to the existing heating system by installing an air source heat pump that is powered by renewably sourced electricity, as a sustainable and energy efficient thermal supply system.

By delivering a more energy efficient heating system, this project will decarbonise the site through the elimination of fossil fuel (gas oil) consumption and is further enhanced with a reduction in other pollutants such as NOx.

Completion of this project is a key step to achieving net zero at Dunbia Llanybydder and helping Dunbia (UK) achieve its approved Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) goals.

This project is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by 577 tCO2e each year and remove all Scope 1 carbon emissions from the site. Dunbia have recently updated it’s SBTi operational (Scope 1 and 2) targets to reduce group emissions by 59% by 2030, which is consistent with reductions required to keep global warming to 1.5°C, the highest level of ambition.

Niall Browne, CEO, Dunbia (UK), said: “Dunbia (UK), through its parent company Dawn Meats, was the first European beef and lamb processor to make a commitment to the Science Based Targets Initiative. We have been working for more than 10 years to reduce emissions internally and more widely across our supply chain and recognise the urgency to adopt even more aggressive measures to reduce emissions. We welcome this opportunity to work with BEIS via the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund to further improve our energy efficiency and cut our carbon emissions.”

Project ID 04055 - Harsco Metals

IETF grant offered: £51,200
Project costs: £159,899
Location: Rotherham
Study Competition: Steelphalt Rotherham waste heat recovery

Harsco Environmental’s SteelPhalt plant has been developing and manufacturing high performance asphalt products for the UK roadmaking industry since the 1960s. SteelPhalt works in partnership with councils, local authorities and contractors nationwide to deliver durable roads for a sustainable world with at least 95% recycled products as its raw material.

The process involves the processing of steel slag (a waste product from steel smelting) and combining it with various additives such as bitumen, granite, sand, etc. to produce asphalt for road surfaces. Based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, the SteelPhalt plant is strategically located to source slag cost effectively from the surrounding steel industry. The process of making asphalt involves energy intensive operations such as drying, heating, crushing, grinding, conveying, etc. which currently utilise large volumes of natural gas, gas oil and electricity from the grid. The exhaust gases from the combustion of natural gas and gas oil in the burners are vented to the atmosphere, carrying with them significant amount of waste heat.

In order to further cut its environmental footprint and to become the industry leader and champion of net zero carbon emissions, Harsco is carrying out a feasibility study, partially funded by the IETF, to capture the waste heat in the exhaust gases and transform it into electrical power using Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) technology. The feasibility study will use combined internal labour and material resources with external consultants. The heat from the exhaust gases will also be used to preheat the combustion air, thereby reducing the fuel demand of the burners. Finally, the residual low-grade waste heat will be utilised to preheat the feedstocks to maximise waste heat recovery and utilisation. This approach will ensure a most optimum use of our planet’s vital energy resources and minimise the plant’s reliance on the grid while drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The outcomes of this project will help Harsco determine what its options are to increase its energy efficiency, reduce its carbon footprint and any additional funding that would be required to implement the chosen options. Any expansion of our asphalt plants would use these findings to carry on our commitment to the environment and desire to being the world’s most sustainable asphalt supplier.

A company spokesperson said: “Harsco has welcomed the IETF grant offer from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to continue its journey to help continue our commitment to innovation and sustainability. With this IETF feasibility funding grant, we have been able to investigate how we can recover heat from our asphalt plant to optimise our use of energy and reduce our carbon footprint.”

Project ID 15274 - Goodwin International

IETF grant offered: £125,156
Project costs: £357,587
Location: Staffordshire
Deployment Competition: Goodwin International energy savings programme

Goodwin International is implementing carbon reduction policies, aligned with government policy. The strategy employed includes process efficiency improvements, the adoption of onsite renewable energy and afforestation to offset the scope 1 and 2 Green House Gas (GHG) emissions that cannot be removed from its manufacturing processes.

This project will significantly increase operational efficiency in terms of kilowatt hours consumed annually, as well as GHG emissions generated. Long term, this project will increase international competitiveness in a global marketplace and safeguard employment in the heavy industrial sector within the UK.

The scope of the project relates to the reduction in high power consumption of its CNC machines, optimisation of air compressors and monitoring and measuring of the paint booth and drying ovens.

The aim of the project is to increase the efficiency of the company’s processes and reduce GHG emissions at source which will help it to achieve its goal of carbon reduction. The project will realise over 13% energy efficiency enhancement across the facility by implementing processes, leveraging the latest programmable logical controls, compressor technology and optimising existing equipment.

The benefit of this energy efficiency project will see an estimated reduction of 87,884 kWh/year of gas consumption and 485,979 kWh/year of electricity, which equates to a combined 128.8T of CO2 per annum.

The savings not only directly reduce the company’s scope 1 GHG emissions, but reduce the direct cost of manufacturing, enabling the business to be more competitive in the global marketplace. A benefit of increased competitiveness means increased job security for over 300 employees that work within its facility.

A number of energy efficiency deployment concepts can be replicated by others within the industry. The introduction of the technologies that the company is suggesting within its proposal are available to manufacturing engineering facilities like this one to implement at their own premises.

The funding is fully aligned with the Government’s commitment to reaching net zero by 2050 and supports the company’s de-carbonation ambitions as a heavy industrial energy user.

Project ID 15624 - Somers Forge

IETF grant offered: £60,967
Project costs: £91,474
Location: Halesowen, West Midlands
Study Competition: Novel medium and high temperature thermal energy storage for waste heat recovery applications: a feasibility study for Black Country forging industries

The FORWARD project aims to address low energy efficiency challenges in the forging sector mostly due to highly inefficient (≤ 5.5% efficiency in older designs) furnaces and operations. Somers Forge will focus on a specific high-temperature gas-fired furnace, which is batch-operated. Current energy efficiency stands at less than ~14%, waste being through high-temperature (>1200°C) exhaust flue-gases.
Somers Forge propose a Thermal Energy Storage (TES)-based Waste Heat Recovery (WHR) technology, integrated with the furnace flue, to recover-store-use waste heat from heating-holding processes, for furnace heating in the next batch of operations.

The novelty of the proposal lies in the scalable-retrofittable design doing away with the need for furnace replacements. The TES unit is modular and capable of storing-releasing waste heat in a cascaded manner (medium-to-high temperatures). TES consists of two medium-to-high temperature Composite Phase Change Materials; developed by the University of Birmingham and validated commercially, and a high temperature sensible heat storage material.

The business case will include pathways to industrial replication across SF, sister-companies, UK Confederation of Metal forming member companies, and other foundation industries.

A company spokesperson said: “We are progressing well through the Waste Heat Recovery project with our partners, Birmingham University and the CBM. Lots of data has been gathered from the furnace operations with the feasibility and design stage underway. This is an exciting project to lead, and we continue to learn more about how our furnaces function. The successful delivery of this project would reduce our CO2 emissions and gas consumption whilst also benefiting from reduced energy costs.”

Project ID 14772 - NGF Europe

IETF grant offered: £131,337
Project costs: £955,000
Location: St Helens, Merseyside
Deployment Competition: NGFE energy efficient oven heating upgrade

NGF Europe, St Helens, is a manufacturer of glass cord products, predominantly used in transmission belts as a reinforcing member and has applications in the internal combustion engine as well as industrial machinery.

NGF will upgrade two existing glass coating ovens by installing new oven lines with heat modulations systems that ameliorates waste heat recovered from recently installed regenerative thermal oxidisers (RTO). It replaces the need for independent recuperative incinerators at each line and significantly reduces natural gas consumption in abatement since in normal operation the high energy efficient RTOs run auto thermal from solvent laden exhaust gases from the ovens.

The new oven and coating equipment design increases glass cord residency time in the oven and allows for lower temperature coating. It minimises the natural gas requirement to raise the temperature of the heat recovered from RTOs.

The IETF project funding unlocks the best available techniques used to recover heat from pollution control processes by investing in the additional equipment that allows the control and use of heat recovered.

This environmental improvement project reduces carbon footprint and supports sustainable manufacturing in the local area.

A company spokesperson said: “The IETF allowed NGF to extend the scope of the thermal oxidiser replacement project to include new drying ovens and coating equipment. The support made us more aspirational and innovative to design a system that maximises waste heat from the existing RTOs. The project helps us reduce environmental burden, reduce manufacturing costs and remain competitive in the market.”

Project ID 12285 - WD Meats

IETF grant offered: £100,763
Project costs: £352,193
Location: Coleraine, Northern Ireland
Deployment Competition: Decarbonisation of meat processing

WD Meats is a meat processing plant which opened in 1987. It is a family run business employing over 450 people and is said to be the only abattoir in Northern Ireland to source its cattle locally from farms only in Northern Ireland. WD Meats is striving to advance sustainable meat processing and reduce its carbon footprint.

The project will replace the original reciprocating piston compressors which are used to produce high pressure super-heated refrigerant gas with Variable Speed Drive (VSD) screw compressor technology. The VSD will run more effectively and energy efficiently, reducing WD Meats’ energy consumption and as a result will reduce carbon emissions by 88tCo2e per annum.

The project will implement new heat exchangers to capture energy previously lost and this will be used to heat a substantial proportion of the hot water required for the factory resulting in a further carbon reduction of 444t CO2e per annum. WD Meats will use this project as a catalyst to achieve its carbon reduction targets.

Project ID 12581 - Celsa Manufacturing

IETF grant offered: £3,868,481
Project costs: £14,686,717
Location: Cardiff, Wales
Deployment Competition: Celsa integrated resource circularity and lifecycle energy

Celsa is a leading user in the UK of an Electric Arc Furnace (EAF – the most environmentally friendly and sustainable technology currently available to produce steel) to melt 100% UK-sourced recycled steel scrap.

Celsa reprocesses about 1.2 million tonnes of scrap each year and contributes significantly to the circular economy, using local raw materials (100% of scrap comes from UK sources) and supplying the UK construction market and iconic projects as well as working closely with suppliers, customers, and other stakeholders on opportunities for using each other’s by-products and clean growth.

With a low carbon footprint already, Celsa UK is committed to being Net Zero by 2030 and this project takes it one step closer to this goal. The company will continue its vertical integration, improving the control of its raw materials and strengthening its supply chain, reducing energy consumption and CO2 to improve its competitiveness, increasing circularity and retention of value, enhancing the skills and opportunities for its current and future workforce, and be an increasingly important part of the industrial landscape. Its aim is to develop a sustainable long-term business, fully decarbonised and providing secure employment opportunities and wealth for future generations.

The basic concept of the Celsa Integrated Resource Circularity and Lifecycle Energy (CIRCLE) Project is to utilise onsite shredding of steel scrap to optimise the feedstock and maximise the EAF efficiency and output as well as make material savings and closing loops for waste use utilising Celsa’s inhouse expertise.

Existing scrap shredding operations serve a global market; these can sometimes distort the market both in quantity and quality of scrap feed leading to the UK’s EAFs having sub-optimal feed which, in turn, leads to higher processing consumption and costs. As the UK electricity prices are higher than global competitors, those steel processors can afford to pay higher scrap prices or accept lower quality. Vertical integration will provide consistent quantity and quality to optimise the efficiency of the EAF plant, saving energy, reducing waste material, and strengthening the UK economy with extra steel output with a value of approximately £27 million.

A more consistent shredded scrap feed will result in less carbon electrode consumption, contributing to lower CO2 emissions as well as lower operational costs. Other less definable savings are expected that relate to EAF refractory usage/wear and these will be assessed during this exciting project.

Project ID 12587 - Celsa Manufacturing

IETF grant offered: £426,970
Project costs: £757,350
Location: Cardiff, Wales
Study Competition: Celsa H2 energy mill study

Celsa contributes significantly to the circular economy, using local raw materials (100% of scrap comes from UK sources) in the Electric Arc Furnace (EAF - the most environmentally friendly and sustainable technology currently available to produce steel), supplying the UK construction market and iconic projects.

Celsa also works closely with suppliers, customers, and other stakeholders on opportunities for using each other’s by-products, providing clean growth. With a low carbon footprint already and a product that is 100% recyclable at the end of its life, Celsa UK is committed to be Net Zero by 2030 with one of the main challenges to overcome being the natural gas fired reheat furnaces.

The reheat furnace at the Sections Mill (Cardiff) will be assessed for suitability for replacement by a bespoke furnace fired using Green H2 achieving both energy savings and zero carbon status. The holistic assessment will cover the furnace, its combustion systems, the on-site distribution, interface with the Green H2 supplier, construction, electrical supplies & controls, H&S, environmental impacts, business model preparation with a high-level risk & opportunity assessment. This will enable the proposed subsequent investment to be developed from a firm foundation.

Celsa’s fellow project partner, Institution of Gas Engineers and Manager (IGEM), is a registered charity supporting individuals and organisations connected with the gas industry achieve and maintain the highest standards of professional competence. These individuals and organisations will be navigating the new world involving Low/Zero Carbon gases and through this project, IGEM hope to support the development by identifying potential challenges and standards that need addressing.

Any skills & resources deficit will be identified and worked on locally with Celsa in collaboration with the South Wales Industrial Cluster (SWIC) and nationally IGEM will raise the profile. The study itself could be utilised to assess other Steel and Non-Steel applications for converting to Zero Carbon fuel sources.

Celsa UK will continue with vertical integration, improving the control of raw materials and strengthening the supply chain, reducing energy consumption and CO2 to improve competitiveness, increasing circularity and retention of value, enhancing the skills and opportunities for the current and future workforce, and be an increasingly important part of the industrial landscape. Celsa’s aim is to develop a sustainable long term business, fully decarbonised and providing secure employment opportunities and wealth for future generations.

Project ID 15697 - Polypipe

IETF grant offered: £430,266
Project costs: £1,229,330
Location: Doncaster, South Yorkshire
Deployment Competition: Deployment of flow enhancement technology across the energy intensive, injection moulded construction manufacturing sector; to create energy savings of 27% and cycle time reductions & productivity improvements of 25%

Polypipe Building Products is a leading Doncaster-based manufacturer of sustainable building solutions for the construction sector. Manufacturing products for drainage, heating, sewers, and waste systems, it is a UK market leader in residential piping systems.

The majority of its carbon emissions are linked directly with the manufacturing process and a focus on energy efficiency and climate change is a major part of its corporate responsibility.

Injection moulding is an energy intensive process, whereby room temperature polymer granules are heated until they reach the melt temperature, at which point the viscosity is sufficiently low to inject the material into the cold mould to form the product.

This project seeks to deploy the ground breaking Soniplas technology that can reduce the energy demand of the injection moulding process by up to 30% through lowering the melt temperature of the polymer; whilst also enabling productivity gains of around 40% from reducing the cooling time required.

The Doncaster manufacturing site operates 21 moulding machines, producing a range of pipe fittings, polypropylene chambers, risers and lids; and the company’s vision with this project is to roll out the technology, with a goal of reducing production electricity consumption by over 25%.

IETF funding for this project tips the RoI balance to meet the group’s standard requirement, and thus provides the opportunity for us to validate the availability of extra capacity due to increased productivity, whilst concurrently benefiting from the energy savings. This in turn will enable PolyPipe to evaluate future deployment across its other sites on the basis of combined energy and productivity savings.

IETF funding thus acts as a pump priming catalyst for potential roll-out of the technology across the Group, which includes 13 UK sites and additional sites across Europe and the Middle East.

Through increasing productivity and reducing its carbon footprint, injection moulders will help to meet the Government’s net zero emissions and Clean Growth Strategy targets for industry to “improve their energy productivity, by at least 20% by 2030” and “reduce emissions by 78% by 2035, compared to 1990 levels”.

Jason Shingleton, Genuit Group Innovation Director, said: “The Soniplas technology has the potential to be game changing for us in terms of reducing our energy consumption and moving us closer to our Net Zero ambitions. Having the IETF funding has enabled us to take a different view on ROI for energy saving projects where significant levels of capital deployment are required.”

Project ID 15843 - Polypipe

IETF grant offered: £220,291
Project costs: £734,304
Location: Aylesford, Kent
Deployment Competition: Deployment of flow enhancement technology across the energy intensive, injection moulded pipe fittings sector; to create energy savings of 27% and cycletime reductions & productivity improvements of 25%

Polypipe Building Products is a leading Doncaster-based manufacturer of sustainable building solutions for the construction sector. Manufacturing products for drainage, heating, sewers, and waste systems, it is a UK market leader in residential piping systems.

The majority of its carbon emissions are linked directly with the manufacturing process and a focus on energy efficiency and climate change is a major part of its corporate responsibility.

Injection moulding is an energy intensive process, whereby room temperature polymer granules are heated until they reach the melt temperature, at which point the viscosity is sufficiently low to inject the material into the cold mould to form the product.

This project seeks to deploy the ground breaking Soniplas technology that can reduce the energy demand of the injection moulding process by up to 30% through lowering the melt temperature of the polymer; whilst also enabling productivity gains of around 40% from reducing the cooling time required.

Our Aylesford manufacturing site operates 8 polyolefin (PP/PE) injection moulding machines, producing a range of pipe fittings, and its vision with this project is to roll out the technology, with a goal of reducing production electricity consumption by over 25%.

IETF funding for this project tips the RoI balance to meet the group’s standard requirement, and thus provides the opportunity for the company to validate the availability of extra capacity due to increased productivity, whilst concurrently benefiting from the energy savings. This, in turn, will enable it to evaluate future deployment across our other sites on the basis of combined energy and productivity savings.

IETF funding thus acts as a pump priming catalyst for potential roll-out of the technology across the Group, which includes 13 UK sites and additional sites across Europe and the Middle East.

Through increasing productivity and reducing our carbon footprint, injection moulders will help to meet the Government’s net zero emissions and Clean Growth Strategy targets for industry to “improve their energy productivity, by at least 20% by 2030” and “reduce emissions by 78% by 2035, compared to 1990 levels”.

Jason Shingleton, Genuit Group Innovation Director, said: “The Soniplas technology has the potential to be game changing for us in terms of reducing our energy consumption and moves us closer to our Net Zero ambitions. Having the IETF funding has enabled us to take a different view on RoI for energy saving projects where significant levels of capital deployment are required.”

Project ID 15869 - Polypipe

IETF grant offered: £183,548
Project costs: £611,825
Location: Horncastle, Lincolnshire
Deployment Competition: Deployment of flow enhancement technology across the energy intensive, injection moulded water management & civil engineering sector; to create energy savings of 27% and cycle time reductions & productivity improvements of 25%

Polypipe Civils and Green Urbanisation is a leading construction sector manufacturer of surface water management solutions; It specialises in the design and supply of drainage systems which help to mitigate against the impacts of climate change.

The majority of its carbon emissions are linked directly with the manufacturing process and a focus on energy efficiency and climate change is a major part of its corporate responsibility.

Injection moulding is an energy intensive process, whereby room temperature polymer granules are heated until they reach the melt temperature, at which point the viscosity is sufficiently low to inject the material into the cold mould to form the product.

This project seeks to deploy the ground breaking Soniplas technology that can reduce the energy demand of the injection moulding process by up to 30% through lowering the melt temperature of the polymer; whilst also enabling productivity gains of around 40% from reducing the cooling time required.

Our Horncastle manufacturing site operates 18 injection moulding machines, producing a range of civil engineering & water management solutions, and its vision with this project is to roll out the technology across this range, with a goal of reducing production electricity consumption by over 25%.

IETF funding for this project tips the RoI balance to meet the group’s standard requirement, and thus provides the opportunity for the company to validate the availability of extra capacity due to increased productivity, whilst concurrently benefiting from the energy savings. This, in turn, will enable the company to evaluate future deployment across its other sites on the basis of combined energy and productivity savings.

IETF funding thus acts as a pump priming catalyst for potential roll-out of the technology across the Group, which includes 13 UK sites and additional sites across Europe and the Middle East.

Through increasing productivity and reducing its carbon footprint, injection moulders will help to meet the Government’s net zero emissions and Clean Growth Strategy targets for industry to “improve their energy productivity, by at least 20% by 2030” and “reduce emissions by 78% by 2035, compared to 1990 levels”.

Jason Shingleton, Genuit Group Innovation Director, said: “The Soniplas technology has the potential to be game changing for us in terms of reducing our energy consumption and moves us closer to our Net Zero ambitions. Having the IETF funding has enabled us to take a different view on RoI for energy saving projects where significant levels of capital deployment are required.”

Project ID 07410 - Macrete Ireland Limited

IETF grant offered: £1,239,772
Project costs: £2,021,097
Location: Toomebridge, Northern Ireland
Study Competition: Digital industrial-scale microwave system for energy-efficient and low-carbon precast concrete production

The construction industry is under intense pressure to improve its energy efficiency and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions to meet the sustainability agenda. This project, supported through the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF), will demonstrate a synergy of energy efficiency technologies, coupled to an effective deep decarbonisation strategy, which can be achieved for the UK precast concrete industry, through adopting low-carbon curing techniques and low-carbon concretes.

The former will be demonstrated through the design, construction and installation of: 1) a digital microwave-based novel accelerated curing technique; 2) a carbonation curing technique; and 3) a microwave-assisted carbonation curing technique at the site of one of the industrial partners, Macrete Ireland Limited. The latter will be achieved by replacing part of Portland cement with fly ash/slag, saving costs and reducing the carbon footprint. However, extending this, as both fly ash and slag are diminishing in the UK, due to the closedown of relevant industries, two novel low-carbon cements formulated with calcined waste clay will also be investigated. Based on evaluating the environmental impacts, carbon footprint, energy consumption and economic analysis, the most effective technical approach for the precast concrete industry to achieve energy efficiency and deep decarbonisation will be identified and demonstrated through manufacturing tunnel lining segments at Macrete.

This highly interdisciplinary project draws strength from expertise in the partnership brought together to tackle these highly topical problems, having UK and global impact. It is led by Macrete Ltd., a specialist company working at the forefront of the precast concrete engineering industry and supplying materials and expertise to UK blue chip construction companies for the sea defence, civil engineering, railway infrastructure, sports stadia and water and utility sectors.

The consortium benefits from the extensive research base at two London Universities – in concrete technology from the Advanced and Innovative Materials (AIM) Group at University College London, working with the Institute of Sensors & Instrumentation at City, University of London bringing their expertise in innovative fibre optic sensor systems. Partners Central Tanker Services provide an extensive range of services and expertise, including to develop advanced microwave systems and the Mineral Products Association Ltd brings its expertise as the United Kingdom trade association for the aggregates, asphalt, cement, concrete, dimension stone, lime, mortar, and silica sand industries. Together, all the partners will work to create new solutions to the problems faced by construction industry.

Project ID 07303 - Autotech Engineering

IETF grant offered: £39,737
Project costs: £83,330
Location: Newton Aycliffe, Country Durham
Study Competition: Sustainable energy recovery process for efficient nascent technologies

Gestamp is a multinational specialised in the design, development and manufacture of highly engineered metal components for the main vehicle manufacturers. It develops products with an innovative design to produce lighter and safer vehicles, which offer lower energy consumption and a lower environmental impact. Its products cover the areas of BiW, Chassis and Mechanisms. The company is present in 24 countries with more than 100 production plants, 13 R&D centres and a workforce of nearly 40,000 employees worldwide.

Autotech Engineering R&D UK Ltd is part of the Gestamp Chassis Business Unit, which is responsible for the Design, Development, Prototype and Testing of Chassis products. Autotech have developed leading edge optimisation tools for the development of lightweight chassis parts and have a reputation as a highly experienced and innovative supplier to the automotive industry. Gestamp (Autotech) is continuously innovating in product/process and material development to achieve increasingly safer and lighter vehicles, thereby reducing energy consumption and environmental impact.

As a multinational automotive supplier, Gestamp pursue a responsible approach to economic, social and environmental (ESG) goals and there is an expectation within the company to make swift and significant changes towards achieving Net Zero. Gestamp are always exploring ways to reduce waste, reduce cost and reduce the environmental impact of their manufacturing processes.

One of Gestamp’s core competence lies in sheet metal forming whereby complex forms are pressed into flat metal sheets using high-tonnage presses. Some older mechanical presses lose kinetic energy when brakes are applied to slow down or stop the press for tool changes and/or die maintenance; this energy is typically lost and dissipated through heat and noise. The SERPENT project is a short feasibility study assessing the ability to capture and reuse this lost energy.

The study focuses on optimising energy usage on a single mechanical press used within the Gestamp Newton Aycliffe manufacturing facility translating benefits directly to other equipment at this plant including other similar presses and gantry cranes. The outcomes and recommendations of this 7-month feasibility study will provide the foundation for a separate technology implementation stage whereby the energy recovery systems and applications identified can be deployed.

This holistic approach to ESG helps Gestamp make a significant difference and consolidate its position as an environmentally friendly, sustainable global manufacturing business that combines efficient manufacturing processes with reduced energy usage for more competitive environmentally friendly products that secure a brighter manufacturing base for future generations.

Phil Potter, the SERPENT Project Manager, said: “The SERPENT feasibility study was a high-risk technology project not aligned with Gestamp’s core business activities and would not be completed without IETF support and funding. We have been successful in demonstrating feasibility and initial results look extremely promising with a reduction of almost 10% seen in peak power usage during tool changeover. We have yet to process that data and analyse the economic viability but we have already demonstrated that this approach improves manufacturing energy efficiency to reduce waste and carbon footprint and support our drive to NetZero with no impact on press performance.”

Project ID 13816 - CNC Speedwell Limited

IETF grant offered: £237,291
Project costs: £1,152,388
Location: Walsall
Deployment Competition: Cooling plant installation

CNC Speedwell is a high volume CNC machining business, supplying the commercial and automotive vehicle markets with high quality machined iron and aluminium castings as a part of the Castings PLC group.

The company operates over 100 CNC machines and is based in Brownhills, West Midlands. Seventy of these CNC machines include individual cooling units to maintain a pre-set temperature.

The project funding is intended to support the installation of two centralised cooling plants, inclusive of air blast coolers and full redundancy on key components, which would enable the CNC machines pre-set temperatures to be maintained at a significantly lower electricity consumption.

The reduction in energy consumption occurs because the constituent free cooling unit is able to provide partial free cooling at temperatures under 22c and full free cooling at ambient temperatures of 13c and below, which includes a significant proportion of the plant operating hours on an annual basis.

As a result of deploying this technology, the company expects to reduce annual energy consumption and the associated emissions that relate to the machine cooling process by over 80%.

The project is being funded primarily through support from our parent company, Castings PLC, to continue with the Group’s longstanding aim to reduce energy use, cost and emissions.

IETF grant funding has provided a welcome incentive to push forwards with the project, supporting the rationale to proceed with the Cooling Plant project ahead of other potential investments across the business.

CNC Speedwell’s Managing Director, Steve Barwell, commented: “We are excited to see the Centralised Cooling Plant Project developing and are currently progressing well with our first of two installations. We would like to extend our thanks to BEIS for their support to date and look forward to realising the significant projected reductions in energy usage that the IETF grant funding commitment has helped to unlock.”

Project ID 14864 – Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery Ltd

IETF grant offered: £2,514,369
Project costs: £8,381,230
Location: North Lincolnshire
Deployment Competition: Prax Lindsey oil refinery waste heat boiler replacement for enhanced energy efficiency with additional heat recovery and steam production capabilities

The Prax Group is a leading British independent energy conglomerate, headquartered in London. It aims to provide the highest standards in products and services, and manages its activities to minimise, wherever practicable, its effect on the environment.

The Group minimises adverse effects on the environment, as far as reasonably possible, by applying the following practices:

• Monitoring Emissions – Controlling, monitoring and measuring emissions to air, water or land;
• Biodiversity – Conserving biodiversity by protecting flora and fauna;
• Controlling Pollution – Using processes, practices and materials that avoid, reduce and control pollution;
• Standards – Taking the necessary preventative measures to control any nuisance emissions in accordance with the requirements of national and local standards;
• Waste Hierarchy – Implementing the Waste Hierarchy of Reduce / Reuse / Recycle, as far as reasonably practicable.

This project aims to:

• Replace the Waste Heat Boiler (WHB) which generates steam from the Fluid Catalytic Cracker’s (FCC) waste heat unit at Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery, and;
• Improve heat integration of the Vacuum Distillation Unit (VDU2), using specialist pinch technology methods for heat integration improvement.

This project complements Prax’s internal investment programme to adopt energy efficient solutions across its assets. The Humber region cluster has already been identified by the UK Government as a major source of CO2 emissions and this project will contribute towards resolving this issue by meeting the nation’s fuel needs in a more environmentally friendly way.

Project ID 12386 - Long Clawson Dairy Ltd

IETF grant offered: £853,623
Project costs: £2,845,410
Location: Melton Mowbray
Deployment Competition: Long Clawson Dairy deployment

The Long Clawson Dairy has been producing cheese for over a century. They are the largest producer of Stilton Cheese in the UK and still operate the business from their site in the village of Long Clawson.

Long Clawson has remained a farming co-operative since its formation, helping to support farms for over 100 years. Today, over 31 farms in the Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire areas supply 63 million litres of milk every year to enable the cheese making process. Many of the farms that supply its milk have been doing so for generations and the majority are members of the Long Clawson co-operative.

The production of cheese is an energy intensive process involving both heating and cooling activities. This heat transition project is part of a larger site investment to relocate the milk in-take facility. The core of this scheme is the creation of new mechanical and electrical infrastructure that will support the transition of the existing production thermal processes from steam to hot water. The hot water demands will be managed by a new thermal storage system, which will be fed by revolutionary high temperature heat pumps and heat recovery from gas fired generation.

The heat transition project will deliver the following key outputs:

• An overall reduction of energy of 27%.
• 27,800 tonnes of carbon savings (34%) through the life of the project.

The thermal storage system will be the heart of the new plant and will allow the site, over the long term, to move from a mix of gas fired and electrically driven thermal plant to one that is purely electrically powered and continue to reduce the carbon impact.

Iain Grant, Operations Director, Long Clawson Dairy, said: “The production of our Stilton cheese is an energy intensive process involving both heating and cooling activities. With the investment in this project, it has enabled the Dairy to take a more cost-effective approach to energy consumption, alongside a clear carbon emission reduction. This is a substantial investment for a business of our size and would not have been possible without the support of the IETF grant funding.”

Project ID 14165 - Esseco

IETF grant offered: £621,676
Project costs: £1,554,190
Location: Wakefield
Deployment Competition: Sulphur burner heat recovery unit

Esseco UK Limited burn liquid sulphur, which is readily available from local refineries to produce sulphur dioxide gas. The sulphur dioxide is then used in a number of down stream processes to produce finished Sulphite and Bi-sulphite products used in the water treatment, food, agriculture and oil and gas industries. The process of burning sulphur produces a lot of waste heat. Currently, this heat is removed by using river water abstracted from the adjacent river Calder.

A waste heat boiler will be installed on the outlet of the Sulphur burner capable of producing 4 Te/h of steam at 30 barg. This is well in excess of the site’s requirements of approximately 2,500 kg/hr steam at 5.5 barg. The steam generated in the waste heat boiler will power an electricity generator set by reducing the pressure to 5.5 barg across a steam turbine. The resulting steam will supply all the site’s steam requirements.

The project will, based on like for like output, potentially realise a reduction in gas consumption of 95%, electricity consumption of 22% and deliver a large reduction in CO2 emissions of 63%, 2,799tes, due to the decrease in energy usage.

A company spokesperson said: “The IETF grant will allow Esseco UK to enhance the scope and quality of its investment which, in turn, will enable us to deliver reduced energy consumption on our site by capturing waste heat that is already generated from our existing production processes.”

Project ID 10003508 – FP McCann Limited

IETF grant offered: £2,642,253
Project costs: £7,549,295
Location: Kilrea, Northern Ireland
Energy Efficiency Deployment Competition: Deployment of proven energy efficient technologies in the asphaltic concrete manufacturing process

FP McCann Ltd (FPM) is a UK-based construction materials and civil engineering company headquartered in Magherafelt, Northern Ireland, with turnover in excess of £250 million per annum, and currently employing approximately 1,650 staff.

This project is for energy efficiency improvements of the crushing and asphaltic concrete manufacturing process at its Craigall Quarry in Kilrea, Northern Ireland, which has produced asphalt products for both the public and private sectors since the 1980s.

Investments in best available process technology will allow FPM to become a market leader in the production of the region’s most environmentally sustainable asphalt products.

Through the support of the IETF grant, FPM aims to bring a 40 year old manufacturing process up to modern standards using best available technology that will deliver a more efficient manufacturing operation, leading to greatly reduced emissions of carbon and electrical energy consumption per unit of production.

The proposed technological upgrades as part of this project application aim to deliver the following energy savings that will then contribute to associated carbon reductions:

• Specific Electrical Energy consumption MWh/tonne: 48.75% Reduction
• Specific Fuel Energy demand MWh/tonne: 35.6% Reduction

Key project features that will deliver these energy and carbon emissions reduction include:

• Improved process control of asphaltic concrete manufacturing process via best available operating software systems
• Efficient drying and heating of raw aggregates through improved storage, handling of quarry aggregates
• More efficient heat exchange through the use of waste heat as part of the manufacturing process
• Improved resource process optimisation through the inclusion of Recycled

Asphalt Pavement (RAP) processing capabilities.

The core technology in the current asphaltic concrete manufacturing process in

Craigall Quarry is over 40 years old. Although the existing manufacturing plant has been well maintained and is very reliable, there have been many technological advances in asphalt production. Introduction of these advances at Craigall will make this an industry-leading energy efficient plant with significantly reduced carbon emissions as a result.

Project ID 10005961 – GKN Aerospace Services Limited

IETF grant offered: £231,851
Project costs: £365,702
Location: Bristol
Study Competition: Sustainable transformation of emissions for aerospace manufacturing (STEAM)

GKN Aerospace Filton, a leading supplier of Airframe, Engines and Systems solutions in both civil and defence, is setting out an ambitious plan to drive sustainability into the core of its manufacturing technologies. Near term legacy manufacturing action will complement its work on future sustainably fuelled aircraft.

The investigation, in collaboration with Cranfield University and an industry leader in sustainable technology, is an in depth look into the facility spanning 20 buildings and 10 value streams, which enable the manufacturing of components and assemblies for the likes of Airbus, BAE and more.

The investigation will assess the feasibility of digital intelligence gathering, virtual impact modelling and pilot studies for heat and chemical treatment facility efficiencies improvement. Technologies shortlisted include high efficiency electric motors, heat regeneration and redistribution, control and energy loading management.

Focusing on a range of energy/resource reduction initiatives targeting the company’s most energy intensive operations will drive down the tCO2e assisting our pathway to net zero in line with the UK government’s ambitions. There are also internal, non-binding aspirations to reduce its own emissions by 25% before 2025 and achieve net zero by 2030.

This is built on innovative research with its academic partner which has already uncovered upstream reductions of some 900 tonnes of C02e per annum, as a result of an energy reduction of approximately 5,000MWh. Reduced energy consumption increases the competitiveness of the site operations, rewarding sustainable activities and potentially assisting with securing new business.

Digital modelling the impact of this research will allow GKN to create a best practice process which can be followed by other sites. The study will help GKN explore cost vs impact, creating a road map to prioritise high impact technology insertion. As a result, the company will be able to overcome and learn from problems related to established legacy sites (such as high costs and change complexity) and engage in proactive, incremental resolution.

During 2019, over a million individual parts were produced to be assembled into final aircraft, a change in impact at this stage effects the entire life cycle of every aircraft we help produce

A company spokesperson said: “STEAM studies a range of technologies with the potential to significantly drive down carbon emissions caused by Aerospace manufacturing, supporting the pathway to net zero in line with the UK government’s ambitions.”

Project ID 10014623 – Heineken UK

IETF grant offered: £3,732,374
Project costs: £10,663,925
Location: Manchester
Energy Efficiency Deployment Competition: Refrigeration heat pump and low carbon heat network

In order to meet the Paris Climate ambition of a 1.5°C temperature rise, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stated that all governments, industries and organisations need to step up and be Carbon neutral by 2050.

At HEINEKEN, through its Brew a Better World strategy, the company is raising the bar, and have made a global commitment to be carbon neutral by 2030 in all its brewery operations and carbon neutral across its entire value chain by 2040. This is ahead of the 2050 target and Heineken is the first global brewer to set this commitment on this timeline and are encouraging others to follow. This investment is just one element that will help it take a step closer to its target and ensure it does its part to meet the Paris Agreement as soon as possible.

Through this project, the company will replace major parts of its steam infrastructure with a High Temperature Hot Water network at its Manchester Brewery. The steam is currently generated by boilers using natural gas, which is then used to supply the brewhouse to boil wort as well as being sent around the site to supply many processes, which require a heat source.

Large refrigeration systems are used at the site to cool the beer down, and at present these generate heat which is lost to the atmosphere through cooling towers. As part of this project, this waste heat will be recovered from the refrigeration systems and using large industrial heat pumps, it will be compressed and stepped up to higher temperatures using renewable electricity.

The project also includes required modifications for a number of key heat uses so that they can be operated utilising this higher temperature hot water instead of steam. These include cleaning systems for beer pipe work, internal and external keg washing and canning pasteurisers.

Whilst the company will be investing in this project using its own strategic capital funding, it welcomes the support from the IETF to accelerate the project. Successful completion will set up the infrastructure needed to substantially reduce the company’s carbon footprint, and give it the learnings to implement similar projects across its supply chain.

Matt Callan, Senior Director Supply Chain Heineken UK, said: “We are proud to have ambitious targets when it comes to reducing our carbon footprint, within both our own operations and across our entire value chain. For over 150 years, we have been passionate about making a positive impact and more than ever it is clear that there is no time to waste in taking action to reduce carbon emissions. This investment and IETF funding will enable us to act faster, and with the commitment and passion of our colleagues and partners, will help us raise the bar at our Manchester Brewery to brew our beers in a more sustainable way. The project will make a significant contribution on our journey to carbon neutrality and provide us with the learnings to reapply across our other sites as we continue our journey to brew a better world.”

Project ID 10014927 – Weir Minerals Europe Limited

IETF grant offered: £137,233
Project costs: £246,524
Location: Todmorden, Lancashire
Study Competition: Heat recovery from foundry operations

Weir intends to deploy chosen energy saving technologies across its UK foundry portfolio, transforming the company’s foundry operations into the future industry-standard for energy efficiency.

By targeting energy efficiency upgrades across its portfolio, Weir will incorporate a new set of initiatives into its sustainability strategy and accelerate the transformation to full decarbonisation by 2050. This project will present a parallel but distinct undertaking to Weir Group’s Renewable Strategy, which seeks to demonstrate further commitment to decarbonisation by reducing emissions associated with the company’s energy supply.

The proposed feasibility study focuses on improving the energy efficiency of the foundry at Todmorden by recovering and redeploying waste heat. The manufacturing process is highly energy-intensive and includes melting of alloys at 1600°C, pre-heating of casting ladles to 700°C, heat treatment of casts at 1000°C and the production of superheated steam for polystyrene mould fabrication.

Of these processes, the heat treatment of casts forms the focal point for wasted thermal energy, as the hot flue gases (>1000°C) from the ovens are vented directly into the atmosphere. Having identified the opportunity to exploit this heat source, the feasibility study will demonstrate how the recovered thermal energy can be used to improve the efficiency of the foundry by employing the technologies outlined below.

The equipment described will utilise the full spectrum of temperatures captured in the recovery process, maximising the potential for efficiency upgrades at several stages of manufacturing.

The study aims to evaluate the viability of recovering waste heat from the flue gases emitted by the heat treatment ovens, and construct a systematic, optimised approach to redeploy the excess thermal energy to maximise energy efficiency at several stages of manufacturing.

Without support from the IETF, the project cannot go ahead in the scope set out in this proposal. The company is inhibited by a lack of expertise and the need for specialised equipment to deliver the study in full form. Competing projects for the company’s limited available capital, coupled with the financial risk of outsourcing, prevent the study from being put in motion. IETF funding will overcome these obstacles and allow Weir to investigate the full potential of the energy efficiency solutions.

On completion of the Feasibility Study, the company will look to deploy the chosen technologies with a quick turnaround, with aim of making significant moves toward the ambitious decarbonisation targets of the company as soon as possible. Subsequent work will include renegotiation of the highest-ranking quotes, additional tendering and contracting from alternative suppliers, followed by installation and commissioning of the chosen technologies.