Efficient Energy Management at Bedford

PARTNER

Interview with Christian Westing , Technical Director at Bedford GmbH + Co. KG .

Bedford is an Osnabrück family-run business that has been producing premium-class sausage and ham since 1909.

Dietrich Schr?ter , managing director, and Harald Gürtler , sales representative at Schr?ter Technologie, spoke with Bedford’s Technical Director, Christian Westing, about avoiding consumption peaks.

Dietrich Schr?ter: Mr. Westing, could you give us an insight into the measures your traditional company has taken to optimize energy consumption?

Christian Westing: At Bedford, we have come to realize that in times of crisis, we need to optimize our resource and energy consumption and be more flexible. Triggered by the feared gas shortage in 2022, we conducted a comprehensive analysis to understand our consumption in production and administration.

Prior to the actual analysis, it was first investigated where energy meters were available and where others needed to be retrofitted. We already proactively had Schr?ter install an in-process energy monitoring system for one of four new THERMICjet? hot-smoking systems as part of an investment in 2020.

Harald Gürtler: How did you approach this analysis?

Christian Westing: Over a period of four weeks, we operated our machines and systems in three shifts around the clock, measuring the consumption of electricity, gas, refrigeration, and water. A software for process data acquisition helped us to keep track of all data. The effort and dedication of our employees in this process was enormous, but appropriate. The effort was definitely worth it! Now we know where the savings potential lies and where energy-guzzlers are hiding.

Dietrich Schr?ter: Did you identify any particular challenges?

Christian Westing: Yes. Especially in the summer months, our cold stores need a lot of energy. However, the chillers also emit a considerable amount of heat energy, which we can use with the help of a heat recovery system or heat pump. With this equipment, we now produce hot water, which not only heats our post-maturating systems, but also supplies part of administration, such as the heating and kitchen.

Dietrich Schr?ter: That sounds like an efficient solution. Were there any other measures?

Christian Westing: Absolutely. At a time of energy crisis, our electricity and gas suppliers made it clear that in 2022 there may not be enough energy available. Therefore, we decided to position ourselves more independently for the future and built a 642 kW photovoltaic system on a large employee parking lot. It went into operation in August 2023. The covered parking lots not only serve to generate electricity, but also provide weather protection for our employees’ vehicles. The covered area is even used for outdoor sports.

Harald Gürtler: How successful is the PV system?

Christian Westing: According to initial experience, it covers a good 8% of our annual electricity consumption. Since 100% of the solar energy generated is used immediately at the plant, we decided not to have an electricity storage system. Investing in a storage system would not have been worthwhile. Recently, our CEO ulrike stelzner told me that several companies had inquired about the PV system on-site. This really makes us a role model, which we’re of course extremely happy about.

Dietrich Schr?ter: How did your employees react to these sustainability measures?

Christian Westing: Our employees provided extremely positive support to the entire analysis and the measures derived from it. The themes of sustainability and security are part of all our daily lives. It was nice to see how much our team identified with the changes.

Dietrich Schr?ter: Thank you very much for these insights into the sustainability initiatives at Bedford, Mr. Westing. It seems that our meters have been installed in the right place.

Source: Meeting Point No. 66 (MP66) & Video