Energy Management in Internal Networks for Increased Energy Efficiency : A Case Study at ProfilGruppen Extrusions AB

Abstract: Around one third of the CO2-emissions in the world are estimated to be originating from the industrial sector. These emissions must be reduced dramatically and one of the ways of doing so is by improving energy efficiency. Energy efficiency aims to reduce the energy needed whilst ensuring the same amount and quality of goods and services. There are many approaches to energy efficiency and technical solutions are known to be most common. Making new investments or being innovative is not the only solution, it is also important to consider the managerial aspects of energy efficiency, known as energy management. Energy management aims to make activities and operations at a production site more energy efficient by focusing on changing behaviours and increasing knowledge regarding energy. This thesis aimed to facilitate the establishment and development of an energy management strategy into a large industrial company by applying a network perspective into the organisation. This was believed to reduce the risk of sub-optimising as well as information and knowledge silos. The thesis first focused on how a framework could be designed to facilitate the development of an energy management strategy for internal networks, which was then applied to an existing large industrial company to see how the framework could be applied in practise. The result of the application was a strategy specifically designed for the needs of the case company. The thesis utilised theories and frameworks regarding energy management and combined this with theories concerning networks, more specifically internal networks. By combining existing literature it was possible to design a framework which was specified for internal networks and energy management. The aim was that the framework could be used to formulate a strategy that would help a company in their work to improve their energy efficiency within multiple parts of their organisation or production. The finalised framework consisted of four phases which are to be applied if an appropriate strategy is to be formulated. The framework was applied to a large aluminium extrusion company and an internal network was thereby created within the company. The framework focused on two different levels of the organisation, the corporate level as the wider and more strategic viewpoint and the unit level focusing more specifically on each member of the network. Through interviews and questionnaires it was possible to understand and evaluate the newly defined, internal network, and utilise these results in the formulation of a strategy. It was concluded that the entire network must cooperate to improve how they work with organisational matters. The corporate level was good at this but was lacking on unit level, meaning that the units could utilise the corporate level to improve. The application of the framework also resulted in more specific strategies for three of the units and on corporate level for the case company. The strategies stated what to prioritise and how to address weaknesses, threats, and opportunities. They also highlighted the strengths within the network.