Pinch Analysis: Connected additional services

• The measures developed through a pinch analysis, for example, form the basis for the development of a decarbonization roadmap or the conclusion of a target agreement between the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) and the company (within the framework of this target agreement, the company commits to implementing economically viable measures to reduce CO2 emissions and, in return, receives a refund of the CO2 levies paid on fuels).
• The measures developed through the pinch analysis can also be used for the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
• Die mit der Pinch-Analyse erarbeiteten Massnahmen können auch fürs SBTi (Science Based Targets initiative) verwendet werden.
• From Pinch analyses, follow-up contracts can also be generated, such as the concrete planning and implementation of measures or the technical support for the implementation of measures (the technical support for the implementation of measures is financially supported by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), see funding conditions).
• During Pinch analyses, opportunities for operational optimization are often identified. Follow-up contracts in the area of operational optimization are also possibilities for longer-term collaboration.
• The analysis of the present state determined at the beginning of a pinch analysis can serve as a basis for establishing a monitoring system or for identifying ways to optimize the energy management of a company.
• A Pinch analysis should not be a one-time event. A company evolves, resulting in production changes and consequently, so does energy demand. Therefore, companies should update the pinch analysis after a certain period. Additionally, changing external conditions, such as fluctuating energy costs or regulatory levies, can make measures that were initially not economically viable become attractive. For these reasons, it is worthwhile not to disregard a conducted pinch analysis
• If a client plans to construct an expansion, increase production capacity, expand or modernize infrastructure systems, and adjust energy supply systems, an existing pinch analysis should be reviewed or a new pinch analysis should be conducted.
• In some cases, a pinch analysis also leads to a reduction in electricity or water demand. Services related to electricity and water usage can be effectively coupled with a pinch analysis.
• For energy suppliers or contractors, the results of the pinch analysis provide important insights so they can offer attractive energy supply solutions to their customers. For example, different companies on a site can be energetically interconnected based on the pinch analyses available for each company.
• When planning to integrate a company into a thermal energy network, it should be done based on a pinch analysis. Initially, the internal heating and cooling requirements of the company should be optimized through heat recovery, thus minimizing the need for heat and cold. In a further step, the unavoidable energy needs can be optimally provided by the thermal energy network. The pinch analysis also helps in finding smart solutions, such as the use of energy storage to reduce connection loads or the use of heat pumps to lower the return temperatures of district heating. Additionally, the waste heat of the company can be determined, which may be able to be fed into the district heating system. It is important to only feed into the district heating network the waste heat that cannot be reused internally within the processes.