Ranson NV is an international distributor and producer of ingredients and products for bakers, chocolatiers, the catering industry, ice cream manufacturers, and the food industry. It is headquartered in Belgium and sources ingredients from all over the world. In Harelbeke, their largest energy consumer by far is the cooling installation for their frozen products.
In light of volatile energy conditions and the high energy intensity of the food industry, Ranson aimed to reduce energy costs without compromising operational reliability. Leveraging their industrial cooling installation to engage in the energy flexibility market was identified as a promising avenue for further study.
What is the scope of your flexibility project in terms of assets or processes?
Ranson’s energy producing and consuming assets, solar panels and cooling installation, weren’t fully optimized or deployed on the flexibility markets. Solar energy was utilized, but not optimally aligned with the cooling system’s demand. However, considering the size of the electrical capacity and the flexibility potential of the installation, Ranson wanted to work on a solution.
As a result, the flexibility of the cooling installation is now being valorized on the Day-Ahead market and Imbalance market, and surplus solar energy is buffered in the cold room to increase self-consumption of solar energy. Due to the large size and thermal inertia of their freezing storage facility, the system’s power consumption can be easily adjusted to take advantage of favorable conditions in both flexibility markets - while maintaining zero product risk.
Cooling
Solar energy
How did you go about implementing the project and delivering the expected flexibility?
Together with Voltelli as energy management software provider, and their cooling installation partner, Ranson evaluated the technical feasibility of controlling the installation and tested its response time, while the energy supplier supported the project by providing an appropriate imbalance-exposed contract. A secure local controller was installed on site, enabling automated real-time control of the installation’s output based on market forecasts and grid signals.
As safeguarding the frozen products is critical for Ranson, a secure and reliable control mechanism was implemented, complemented by a fully redundant fallback scenario to ensure continuous compliance with the specified temperature boundaries in the cold room.
The cross-market strategy captures added value by keeping processes reliable, investments low, and returns maximized.
Looking back, how did the implementation go? Did you reach the expected results?
The setup of the installation proceeded efficiently and demanded limited operational oversight, facilitated by effective collaboration with Voltelli.
Key outcomes:
- Optimized use of surplus solar energy: excess solar generation is now utilized as a buffer of the cool the cold room, significantly reducing grid injection.
- New revenue stream from Day-Ahead and Imbalance markets, allowing Ranson to reduce their energy bill while supporting a more balanced grid
- Zero risk to the cooled products: a 100% reliable fallback system to maintain strict temperature compliance is key
- No extra investment requirements such as in a battery; Ranson uses its existing infrastructure, eliminating the need for costly assets such as batteries.
€11 000
per year per 100 kW of flexible power
Estimated steering revenue on Day-Ahead and Imbalance markets and through optimized self-consumption.
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