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Industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0 have introduced a lot of innovative technologies in industrial plants, transforming them into complex digital systems. On the other hand, the importance of Energy Management Systems in industrial plants is growing for both sustainability and economic reasons, but the opportunity of Industry 4.0/5.0 technologies in enhancing energy management systems is not fully understood. Thus, this paper analyzes how Industry 4.0/5.0 technologies can be applied to meet the requirements of Energy Management Systems, focusing on each aspect such as design, monitoring, control, and budget planning. It identifies additional opportunities that arise with different levels of technological implementation, suggesting organic implementation steps. The final aim is to provide a comprehensive framework for fostering a strategic and conscious implementation approach of these tools in the Energy Management Systems of industrial plants, giving clear and comprehensive suggestions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting energy efficiency is a key element of the strategic commitment of the European Community. Prominent among the binding measures established by the 2012 Energy Efficiency Directive to further this vision is the requirement for large companies to conduct energy audits every four years. After receiving the second cycle of energy audit reports in December 2019, a new description of the energy situation of Italian companies was made available. This presented the previously inaccessible possibility of comparing the two situations reported in 2015 and 2019 to assess the development of energy efficiency practices in organizations subject to the legislative obligation of energy audits in the country. To this end, in collaboration with the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), a project was initiated with the aim of developing the tools and methodologies necessary to assess in more detail the evolution that has occurred in the four years since 2015. In this paper, the findings of the analysis conducted on a significant sample of companies in Italy are presented. Through the design of a maturity model to assess the degree of progress achieved in a company's energy management, the results of the two situations were analyzed. The analysis was deepened by assessing the progress achieved in different aspects of Energy Management: "Strategic Approach", "Awareness, Competence, and Knowledge", "Methodological Approach", "Organizational Structure", "Energy Performance Management and Information System", and "Best Practices". Furthermore, the observed variations were statistically tested using a pairwise t-test to make statistical inferences about the maturity of the total population of Italian enterprises under legislative obligation. The results have shown an increase in overall energy management maturity in each maturity dimension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increased focus on energy efficiency, both at the national and international levels, has fostered the diffusion and development of specific energy consumption benchmarks for most relevant economic sectors. In this context, energy-intensive facilities, such as hospitals and health structures, represent a unique case. Indeed, despite the high energy consumption of these structures, scientific literature lacks the presence of adequate energy performance benchmarks, especially in regard to the European context. Thus, this study aimed at defining energy benchmark indicators for the Italian private healthcare sector using data collected from the Italian mandatory energy audits according to Art.8 EU Directive 27/2012. The benchmark indicators' definition was made using a methodology proposed by the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA). This methodology provided the calculation of specific energy performance indicators (EnPIs) by considering the global energy consumption of the different sites and the sector's relevant variables. The results obtained were compared with those obtained from a consolidated but more complex methodology: the one envisaged by the Environmental Protection Agency. The results obtained allowed us to validate the reliability of the proposed methodology, as well as the validity and future usability of the calculated indicators. Relying on a significant database containing actual data from recent energy audits, this study was thus able to provide an up-to-date and reliable benchmark for the private healthcare sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wind energy has shown significant growth in terms of installed power in the last decade. However, one of the most critical problems for a wind farm is represented by Operation and Maintenance (O&M) costs, which can represent 20–30% of the total costs related to power generation. Various monitoring methodologies targeted to the identification of faults, such as vibration analysis or analysis of oils, are often used. However, they have the main disadvantage of involving additional costs as they usually entail the installation of other sensors to provide real-time control of the system. In this paper, we propose a methodology based on machine learning techniques using data from SCADA systems (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition). Since these systems are generally already implemented on most wind turbines, they provide a large amount of data without requiring extra sensors. In particular, we developed models using Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) to characterize the behavior of some of the main components of the wind turbine, such as gearbox and generator, and predict operating anomalies. The proposed method is tested on real wind turbines in Italy to verify its effectiveness and applicability, and it was demonstrated to be able to provide significant help for the maintenance of a wind farm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most manufacturing and process industries require compressed air to such an extent that in Europe, for instance, about 10% of the total electrical energy consumption of industries is due to compressed air systems (CAS). However, energy efficiency in compressed air production and handling is often ignored or underestimated, mainly because of the lack of awareness about its energy consumption, caused by the absence of proper measurements on CAS in most industrial plants. Therefore, any effective energy saving intervention on generation, distribution and transformation of compressed air requires proper energy information management. In this paper we demonstrate the importance of monitoring and controlling energy performance in compressed air generation and use, to enable energy saving practices, to enhance the outcomes of energy management projects, and to obtain additional benefits for non-energy-related activities, such as operations, maintenance management and energy accounting. In particular, we propose a novel methodology based on measured data, and baseline definition through statistical modelling and control charts. The proposed methodology is tested on a real compressed air system of a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in order to verify its effectiveness and applicability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]