Improved energy efficiency in wineries using data from audits

Abstract

The wine production process has a high energy demand of about 1,750 million kWh per year in the EU. Saving energy, responsible consumption and efficient use of energy sources are key aspects to consider for the competitiveness and viability of the sector. Therefore, the TESLA project (Transfering Energy Save Laid on Agroindustry), funded by the European Commission, has conducted 39 energy audits in wineries from four countries (Spain, France, Portugal and Italy). The information collected has allowed them to carry out a comparative analysis of energy efficiency measures through a technical-economic study, calculating the period of return on investment and performing a sensitivity analysis to determine the break-even point for each of the investments analysed. The results show that the replacement of chillers by more efficient ones, the installation of variable speed drives on pumps, the introduction of management and control measures such as the implementation of a Building Management System (BMS) and the installation of energy analysers for identification of consumption by use are the measures that have the greatest quantitative impact.