Vilniaus Duona Bakery records energy consumption at 60 points

Which bakery device consumes exactly how much energy – after implementing an energy management project, we know this information in detail. The bakery's manager Dalia Zdanovičienė and the production technical manager Andrius Paužas tell us.

"Baking bread requires a lot of energy, not only from people, but also from electricity, gas, water or steam. Until now, we only saw the final consumption of resources: how much water, gas or electricity the bakery consumes in total. And where exactly we "ate" that energy – we couldn't see. Now all this data is like in the palm of your hand. Although the project is still at the monitoring stage, we are already seeing places where changes in energy saving will be needed," said Dalia Zdanovičienė, Head of Vilnius Bread Vilnius Bakery.

30 thousand euros were invested in the project and installation of energy meters in the Vilnius bakery. euros.

Picture of energy costs

According to her, this project is like a diagnosis of energy consumption: it shows exactly where a device, at what time, how much and what energy it consumes.

"For example, we have already noticed that after the work of the baking line is completed, it happens that it turns empty for some time. Or the cooling conveyor rotates even though there are no more baked goods in it. By consolidating such places, we will be able to save energy," says the head of the factory.

Reveals where energy savings can be made

She is supported by Andrius Paužas, the head of production technology, who is in charge of the implementation of the project.

"Now you can't hide the hole in the bag: we can see the entire database and we can make decisions. For example, one of the cooking lines runs for 12 hours and has a certain average energy consumption. And suddenly, energy costs increase significantly. This already encourages us to pay attention to what deviated from the norm and what led to it. Then look for solutions: sometimes just a conversation with a colleague supervising the device will be enough, and sometimes you will have to automate a certain action, for example, by installing sensors," says Andrius.

For example, an hour before the bread is put in the oven, it must be heated to reach the required temperature. It is important to tune in so that the baked goods reach the oven on time, so that it is switched on and not too early, not too late, and turned off on time.

Warns of deviations

"It is convenient that the system also allows you to create alerts, because there is a lot of data and it would not be possible to physically monitor them all the time. If the upper limit is exceeded, the system automatically sends an e-mail about the deviation from the norm," says the production technical manager.

Recommends to all manufacturing companies

According to Andrius, monitoring energy consumption at various points of activity is useful for all manufacturing companies.

"Only after assessing where you lose energy or where you consume it the most, can you think about further actions and investments," he emphasizes.

Andrius, who came from the energy sector himself, took over this project, which was started by other colleagues during the pandemic, and revived it a year ago. It is now in the active phase of data analysis: the system monitors 60 installed energy consumption points, such as individual production lines, baking furnaces, cooling conveyors and systems, boilers in the boiler room, etc. Next, the preparation of an action plan awaits where and how much savings can be made and what actions or investments are needed for this.

Thanks to the team

Dalia thanked her colleagues who successfully implemented the project: Audrius Lataitis, who worked on the project preparation plan and budget work, and Andrius Paužas, who supervised the practical implementation of the project in the factory and the supervision of data analysis.

Helps to achieve sustainability goals

This year, Vilniaus Duona has also implemented another energy-saving project – a heat exchange project in the Panevėžys bakery. The bakery now uses the energy that used to come out of the chimneys through the winds for heating and hot water. Across the Lantmannen Group , we aim to reduce energy consumption every year at every step and use resources responsibly to achieve zero CO2 in production by 2050.