Energy Audit: foundations of sustainability plan and new business opportunities

A cornerstone in a sustainability plan, the corporate energy audit provides a clear and detailed picture of energy consumption and possible areas for savings, identifying any inefficiencies so that possible improvement interventions can be structured.

As we have seen in a previous article, corporate energy audit is now a legal requirement for many organizations, especially for so-called energy-intensive companies, those that have particularly high energy consumption parameters on which they need to report accurately.

These companies are required to repeat this audit every four years, according to Legislative Decree 102/2014, by which Italy transposed European Directive 2012/27.

To date, the obligation does not affect companies that have already adopted management systems that comply with EMAS and the ISO 50001 or EN ISO 14001 certifications.

However, any company can benefit from having an energy audit, regardless of whether it is mandatory. In this sense, in fact, energy diagnosis is an extraordinary tool for improving an organization’s operational efficiency and reducing energy supply costs.

IDENTIFYING AND SEIZING NEW OPPORTUNITIES

The benefits of having an energy audit are manifold and affect many aspects and areas of an organization’s operations.

• First, it should be not forgotten that aiming at energy efficiency for some realities is not an option, but a necessity. It means having an important spin-off in terms of economic savings, and this is crucial especially for companies with very high consumption, which has a huge impact on internal costs. In many cases, the introduction of efficiency measures is the discriminating factor in the success and very operation of an organization. And the first step toward consumption efficiency is precisely the corporate energy audit.
• The energy diagnosis allows the company to isolate and act on areas of improvement in terms of energy supply, dispersion, and consumption, quantify opportunities for energy savings, and measure the results from a cost/ benefit perspective.

• If carried out before and after some improvement interventions, it is useful to certify the passage of energy classes, resulting in an increase in property value.
• Energy diagnosis allows for improvements in operational efficiency, optimizing production processes and reducing wastes.
• An organization that invests in sustainability by deciding to carry out an energy audit enhances and improves its corporate image, demonstrating that it is attuned to the collective challenges that gravitate around climate change, common resources and sustainability, aware of its impact and responsibility.
• This attitude contributes greatly to improving corporate reputation among stakeholders and capital, especially from environmentally sensitive parties.

Awareness and the implementation of concrete measures to curb environmental impact and reduce emissions and waste is the hallmark of a company that is concretely forward-looking.

ENERGY AUDIT: AN ACCELERATOR FOR THE TWIN TRANSITION

A transition to a more sustainable economy in energy, environmental and social terms begins with an assessment of the status quo. In the case of energy consumption, this assessment corresponds to an energy audit.

It is step 0 of any planning and intervention, the starting point from which to predict and put into action ameliorative changes. For companies, it is a key step enabling them over time to put in place an effective energy management system throughout the organization.

This is only made possible by a thorough understanding of energy use within the organization, to the point of constituting a kind of mapping that can detect any dispersions and inefficient management.

Today, thanks to the huge push for digitalization, accelerated by continued advances in AI, Internet of Things (IoT) and Cloud technologies, the measurement and diagnostic process can rely on the most advanced digital technologies.

So much that a transition towards sustainability is accompanied, hand in hand, with a technological and digital transition: a symbiosis that goes by the name of the Twin Transition.

RENEWABLE ENERGY: DATA AND TRENDS

It is worth dwelling for a moment on global energy and supply trends, which see 2027 as a turning point.

These trends clearly speak of a steady increase in quantity and demand for renewable energy sources.

In line with the Zero Emissions target, they will lead to a paradigm shift by 2027.

According to a forecast by the IEA (International Energy Agency), supply form renewable energy will continue to increase significantly on a global scale, to be the the leading source of electricity as early as 2025.

Accelerated also by the rising cost of coal, this growth trend will see renewable energy overtake fossil coal as the leading source by 2027.

Also according to these forecasts, the cumulative capacity of solar photovoltaic will nearly triple by 2030, exceeding natural gas by 2026 and coal by 2027.

CONCLUSIONS

A corporate energy audit is a foundational basis and essential element of any sustainability plan.

Not only does it allow to optimize energy consumption and reduce costs, but it also represents a great opportunity to innovate processes and technologies in use, and consequently improve competitiveness.

In a context where attention to ESG indicators and sustainability has increasingly relevant position, investing in an energy audit is a strategic step for the future of any company.