STEEL + TECHNOLOGY 04/2019 EXTRACT

STEEL TECHNOLOGY | 71
Austrian energy project successfully completed
Wuppermann Austria receives “Energy
Audit plus” for considerable energy savings
Wuppermann Austria was able to achieve major energy savings by implementing three important measures. As
a result, the company has reduced annual energy consumption by 1,742.69 MWh during the E-LEEN project.
For 4 years, steel strip processing company
Wuppermann Austria has been
contributed major energy savings within
the E-LEEN initiative. Supported by the
regional energy company Energie Steiermark
AG, E-LEEN is a network for energy
efficiency with particular focus on facilities
and transport. The joint initiative of several
companies and the State of Austria had
formulated an overriding goal for all participants,
whereas every member specified
individual targets for energy savings. The
duration of the project was set from October
2015 to June 2019.
“Our target was to reduce annual energy
consumption by 1,459 MWh for the
period of the project,” says Josef Koini,
energy commissioner and E-LEEN project
manager at Wuppermann Austria GmbH.
“At 1,742.69 MWh per year, we exceeded
this figure. Thus, we contributed 9.8% to
the overall target.”
The objectives of the E-LEEN initiative
included key issues to be implemented in
terms of energy saving. The individual
measures of these key issues were organised
and coordinated by the participating
companies. Thus, Wuppermann Austria
was able to achieve the three largest savings
with measures as following:
• renewal of the cooling air fans (319.85
MWh/a),
• induction heating of the strip galvanizing
line 1 (498 MWh/a) and
• hot water generation by means of a
heat pump (711.8 MWh/a).
Many smaller savings could be achieved by
replacing the lighting in various buildings
and, in total, made a significant contribution.
In terms of annual energy consumption,
this represents a total saving of 8.2%.
For the network participants, an “energy
audit plus” was prepared in accordance
with the Federal Energy Efficiency Act
(EEffG) of the Republic of Austria §18 in
order to meet the requirements of this Act
on the one hand and to achieve actual and
Wuppermann: steel processing for over 145 years
Wuppermann Group is a medium-sized family business based in Leverkusen,
Germany. Wuppermann Austria in Judenburg is one of the five production
sites within the Wuppermann Group and one of the largest employers in
Styria. Here, the company produces narrow, galvanized slit strip as well as
galvanized tubes and profiles. It specialises in high corrosion protection with
coatings of up to 1,200 g/m² (zinc) and 1,000 g/m² (zinc-magnesium), in
particular for applications in construction and in the solar industry.
sustainable energy savings on the other.
The EEffG came into force on 1 Jan 2015.
Considerable energy suppliers are obliged
to take efficiency measures for themselves
and their customers or other energy
consumers or to make a corresponding
compensation payment (supplier obligation).
The energy saving measures of the
individual participants were monitored in
advance by the Monitoring Agency of the
Austrian State. All measures taken by
Wuppermann Austria GmbH were recognised
in this process.
Despite the success in terms of savings,
Wuppermann Austria does not want
to rest on its laurels, but is convinced that
it will find further potential. The effort is
worth it: energy efficiency has tangible
ecological and economic advantages and
is becoming increasingly relevant in the
steel industry. For this reason, a second
run of the E-LEEN network was to be
launched in autumn 2019. The energy
audit will examine where further energy
measures can be implemented as successfully
as before by Wuppermann Austria
GmbH.
• Wuppermann AG, Leverkusen, Germany
Production facilities of Wuppermann Austria GmbH in Judenburg (Picture: Wuppermann)
STEEL + TECHNOLOGY 1 (2019) No. 4