ENUMIS - Energetic effects of urban manufacturing in the city

The project "ENUMIS - Energetic Impacts of Urban Manufacturing in the city" highlights Urban Manufacturing (UM) from an energy perspective and aims at exploring future opportunities as well as challenges arising from urban production regarding the design of sustainable energy systems for cities. The project provides answers to two key questions: How can framework conditions be created to keep manufacturing companies in cities or to promote new settlements? Which waste heat utilization potentials from industrial and commercial enterprises are available in selected Austrian municipalities and which changes on the energy supply side can be expected from UM? The steadily advancing digitization of industry and commerce also results in new requirements and new options for energy supply, which the project will also examine regarding future developments and the effects of digitization on electricity demand.

Based on a literature search on national and international studies and initiatives on the subject of UM as well as on the experiences and results of preliminary projects of the project partners, expert interviews were conducted with representatives from industry and manufacturing companies. In a further step, the energetic impacts of UM were examined more closely and waste heat potentials from industry and commerce in selected Austrian cities were estimated. In order to discuss the results of the previous analyses and to receive input from a practical point of view, opportunities and potentials in the area of a future sustainable energy supply through UM were discussed in a stakeholder workshop together with representatives from industry, companies, research and city administration.

UM is characterized by the interaction of many urban players. On the one hand, the density of a city creates synergy effects between companies and their urban environment (workers, consumers, research institutions, partner companies, etc.), on the other hand it is difficult, due to the availability of space, to provide traditional and new companies, which are looking for space in the city for expansion or a new location, with this space requirement. Cities in transition and global trends are also changing UM in the city - both the type of production (industry 4.0, digitization, electrification) and the industry structure (tertiarization, convergence of services and production). The changes lead to new demands on energy supply (both electricity and heat). The trend is clearly in the direction of blurring the boundaries between consumers and producers, between the heat, electricity, gas and mobility sectors (sector coupling) and between commercial/industrial and residential sectors. In this context, storage options are becoming increasingly important. These make it possible to bridge energy generation and demand over time, make better use of fluctuating renewable generation, balance short-term load fluctuations and control production processes in a grid-stabilizing way. UM companies can offer different potentials depending on the sector and production process: many companies need the most energy during the day, at times when demand from households is low; some have the potential to adjust their production (e.g. in batch processes) to when a lot of energy is available and cheap (power-to-product); they have storage potentials (heating and cooling processes (power-to-heat/cool), own storage) and the possibility to produce and make and offer heat and electricity themselves.

Research has shown that for the majority of solutions that UM would optimize from an energy perspective, the technological requirements are largely available. Over the next few years, it will be necessary to intensify the testing of technologies in demonstration projects. Above all, demonstration projects on load management for heat and electricity, waste heat and surplus electricity use (power-to-heat) in industry should be pushed and be tested in reality in order to prepare for large-scale use in the future.

Project management

AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH

Project or cooperation partners

• Fraunhofer Austria Research GmbH
• superwien urbanism OG

AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH
Dr. Tanja Tötzer
Giefinggasse 2
A-1210 Vienna
Tel.: +43 (505) 50 4548 bzw. Fax DW 6613
E-mail: Tanja.Tötzer@ait.ac.at