NTS spa: reducing emissions through sustainable innovation
NTS S.p.A. is a company specializing in plastic molding and mold making, based in Lallio, in the province of Bergamo.
Active both nationally and internationally, it has always been sustainability-oriented: as early as 2015 it prepared an initial Energy Diagnosis from which potential areas of energy efficiency emerged, where NTS promptly took action by adopting an open innovation approach. This allowed her to no longer fall into the “energy company” category since the following year.
An initial snapshot of the company’s situation, which is fundamental to STEP’s intervention, was provided to us by the NTS 2022 Sustainability Report, in the “Environment” section of which the company’s direct impacts emerged:
- Energy consumption: mainly electricity and natural gas;
- The consumption of raw materials: water;
- Emissions to the atmosphere: the total emissions of NTS S.p.A., referring to the year 2022, were 1,211 tons of CO2eq.
Conscious that we can still improve, NTS has placed the focus of its Sustainability Report on three main environmental challenges, which at STEP we not only share but on which we have based our work:
Principle 7
Support a preventive approach to environmental challenges.
Principle 9
Encourage the development and dissemination of environmentally friendly technologies
STEP’s proposals
In March 2023, STEP begins assessment with NTS to identify the areas with the highest CO2eq environmental impact and improve efficiency, thereby reducing the Carbon and Water footprint. We therefore analyzed:
- Raw materials;
- Products;
- Energy consumption;
Data in hand, we have embarked on our scouting for innovations to ensure solutions that are applicable in the immediate and, following that, in the medium to long term. Summarized here are the first ones:
- Energy source management: installing an 80 kWp photovoltaic system.
- Heating and air conditioning: additive for chiller hydronic circuits; heat pumps for HVAC; optimization with Artificial Intelligence;
- Electricity stabilization: tailored Power Optimization campaign, to make energy use as efficient as possible.
The total hypothetical CO2 savings avoided as a percentage, once all these solutions are implemented, is between 21.4 percent and 26.6 percent. With an estimated return on investment within 3 years.
FOCUS: Next Generation Power Stabilization
Among the solutions chosen for reducing environmental impact, we decided to elaborate here on a next-generation Power Stabilization solution. The voltage stabilizer connects to the power grid, which can suffer voltage fluctuations dependent on multiple variables. The stabilizer thus allows for a constant voltage, as shown in the graph below. It is a centralized system that can stabilize the voltage of a plant independently, to compensate for voltage peaks and dips in the grid up to +/-20% of nominal voltage, thus ensuring rebalancing between phases.
What are the advantages of a Power Stabilization, in summary?
- Typical energy savings between 4% and 6% of total plant consumption;
- Elimination of voltage fluctuation: higher efficiency of loads;
- Elimination of voltage dissymmetry: reduction of losses in the system;
- Reduced electrical stress and abnormal stress on loads: increased average equipment life and consequent reduction in indirect costs.
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