Equans: Digital solutions are an essential lever for significant reductions of 30% to 40% in energy consumption

PARIS, 2 January 2023

Digital solutions are an essential lever for significant reductions of

30% to 40% in energy consumption.

At a time of rising energy costs, the deployment and use of existing technologies is a major response to the energy performance optimisation challenges facing the world's major industrial companies.

In France, buildings account for 44% of total energy consumption. And today, only 6% of the

2.5 million buildings that make up the French tertiary sector are equipped with an intelligent energy management system called a BMS (Building Management System). BMS allows buildings to make energy savings of 30 to 40%.

In the context of the global energy crisis, these savings are not only a responsibility for the climate, but also a matter of financial survival. In the industrial sector, the costs of supplying energy to a factory can run into millions of euros. Yet here again, existing technology can provide an effective response.

"Most industrial sites are already equipped with SCADA control systems," explains Raphael Contamin, head of Equans Digital. These real-time data acquisition and control systems contain a "significant and too often under-exploited data pool". By accurately reading and analysing this existing data set, companies can make significant energy savings.

Government incentives

Following COP 27, the French government proposed to double the public funds allocated to decarbonising industry, making a total of €10 billion available in exchange for industry leaders submitting emission reduction plans within 18 months. France aims to become carbon neutral by 2050, and industry accounts for 20% of its national emissions. Despite strong public support for decarbonisation efforts, Raphael Contamin believes that without a coherent and targeted approach, this will not be enough.

"We are not facing a technology problem, but a deployment and usage problem," he says, citing the example of BMS and SCADA technologies which, despite their proven effectiveness and return on investment, are not always deployed or used to their full potential.

Looking to the future

For the coming months, Raphael Contamin sees two important trends: the interoperability of systems and the convergence of operational and information technologies. Combining data from multiple systems - breaking down silos - is evident in the emergence of the smart building and, on a larger scale, smart cities. This hypervisor approach allows multiple data sources to be managed and processed in the same space. Similarly, "the once separate disciplines of industrial computing and information technology are increasingly coming together, enabling greater connectivity between systems and data sets."

Read the full interview with Raphael Contamin on the Equans Group website.

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About Equans

Equans is a global leader in the Energy & Services sector with almost 100,000 employees working in more than 50 countries and an annual turnover of over €17 billion.

Equans designs, installs, and delivers customized solutions to improve its clients' equipment, systems, and technical processes and optimize their use in the context of their energy, industrial, and digital transitions. Thanks to a strong local footprint linked to its historical local brands and excellent technical know-how, Equans' highly qualified experts are able to support territories, cities, industries, and buildings in the fields of HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning), Refrigeration and Fire Protection, Facility Management, Digital and ICT, Electrical, Mechanical and Robotic. Equans is a leader in the main European markets (France, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom) and is also well positioned in the United States and Latin America. Equans is a Bouygues Group company.