A new consortium led by VDMA and consisting of ODVA, OPC Foundation and PI jointly published Mar. 31 their version 1.0.0 of a specification for interoperable and efficient energy management in industrial automation and process automation. VDMA represents 3,600 German and European mechanical and plant engineering companies.
The group reports it’s motivated by the mechanical and plant engineering industry’s goal of achieving climate-neutral production. This effort is supported by the European Union's European Green Deal, which aims to make Europe climate-neutral by 2050. To achieve this goal and implement other use cases, accurate data on energy consumption in production is crucial—and that’s where this consortium and its specification come in.
"Measurement and analyzing energy consumption in machines and systems is an important topic for the future,” says Dietmar Bohn, managing director of Profibus Nutzerorganisation e.V. (PNO). “We’re pleased to contribute to this important initiative to optimize energy consumption, and reduce the harmful effects on the environment caused by waste and surplus."
Standardized data model based on OPC UA
This consortium’s specification defines a standardized information model based on the well-known OPC UA networking and data-sharing strategy to enable comprehensive energy management in industrial automation. "This power-consumption-management collaboration gives end-users a highly standardized and interoperable means of achieving their environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals," explains Dr. Al Beydoun, president and executive director of ODVA.
The consortium’s organizers report their standard will make industrial energy management considerably easier. It will let users record, analyze, and use precise and consistent energy data more efficiently to improve operational energy efficiency. This will not only reduce operating costs, but also shrink ecological footprints. This is because standardization makes it possible to implement innovative technologies and best practices faster and more effectively, which contributes to more sustainable and environmentally friendly production.
Monitoring and standby management
The new specification includes two main activities. First, it concentrates on monitoring and displaying all types of energy consumption, including electrical energy, as well as energy from air, water or coal. Second, it focuses on standby management, which means controlling and displaying various energy-saving modes on machines and components. They’re based on the Internet of Things Energy Research (IoTEnRG) project.
“IoTEnRG’s aim was developing energy management interfaces for IoT technologies, and making the results available to industry,” says Dr. Karl-Heinz Niemann of the Institute for Sensor Technology and Automation at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Hannover, Germany. “We contribute our results directly to the joint working group, which accelerated development of the OPC UA companion specification.”
Stefan Hoppe, president of the OPC Foundation, adds, “For digitalization, we need to agree on a common understanding and description of data, including in the energy sector. OPC UA provides exactly that. I’m proud that with this joint group, we can also contribute to the energy transition, and promote optimized energy savings through standardized and efficient monitoring.”
Machinery building block for climate-neutral production
In addition, VDMA has defined its OPC UA for Machinery standard for the mechanical and plant-engineering industries. It specifies various building blocks, including an OPC UA-based block for energy management.
“The four organizations have been working hard to harmonize and standardize information on energy consumption in manufacturing,” adds Andreas Faath, director of VDMA’s machine information interoperability department. “This is an excellent step towards defining an OPC UA building block for mechanical engineering, which will bring the machine and plant manufacturing industries much closer to climate-neutral production.”
