 Courage brings profits - Kompania Węglowa as TPA
Electricity in Kompania Węglowa constitutes an important element in the production process. The costs of electricity purchase with its transmission in individual mines fluctuate between 5% and 8 % of the total costs, which gives amounts running into millions a year. At the moment Kompania itself shapes the costs of consumed electricity.
Kompania Węglowa SA (KW SA), consisting of 17 mines and 5 plants, has decided to participate independently in the electricity market despite the interrelated risk, which encompasses a miscalculation in defining demand for electricity. The miscalculation – i.e. the deviation up or down from the declared demand for electricity – costs a lot.
Market release by way of an implementation of TPA principle (Third Party Access) enabled Kompania Węglowa SA to reach beyond the tariff purchase of electricity that gave no further opportunities to reduce purchase costs. In order for Kompania Węglowa SA to be able to be one big consumer (recipient) on the electricity market, it was necessary to create the Central IT System in order to integrate solutions implemented in individual mines. These cooperating systems give bases for active participation in non-tariff electricity consumption for the whole enterprise.
Forecasts in the mines
As far as forecasts are concerned, Kompania Węglowa uses Plankton system by WINUEL SA. In the head office in Katowice – in the Central IT System - PLANKTON_UR has been implemented. Ultimately a forecasting module of this system is to operate in each mine.
Senior mine foremen responsible for energy issues in the majority of mines and mining plants (ultimately in every mine and a mining plant) use the PLANKTON application, which supports the forecasting process, to create hourly charts of future electricity consumption in the mines. Making use of the developed possibilities of PLANKTON system, they are able to make a forecast in a very short time for twenty four hours, for successive days and for a month in advance.
Forecasts created by particular mines and mining plants are available in the head office immediately after they have been recorded (e-mail way of transmitting forecasts to the headquarters of Kompania Węglowa is being eliminated gradually). Partial forecasts „coming” to the headquarters are grouped and assigned to suppliers (distribution companies) who are supposed to distribute electricity for Kompania (this process is also supported by PLANKTON system). Controllers in the headquarters can also correct every forecast as well as to make adjustments at the level of the said groups. Every forecast is analyzed and verified.
Settlements
Real metering data serve as the basis for the settlements. Measurements in the straight majority of the mines are gathered by local metering systems Etna by WINUEL; then a part of the necessary data is delivered to the central metering system of Kompania Węglowa - eSPiM system (also by WINUEL SA).
The mine pays for real consumption of electricity and proportionally for the share in the deviation of the usage from the forecast. By deviating from the demand chart, every mining plant contributes to the deviation. Summary percent deviation is lower than the miscalculation of a single mine as the deviations within individual hours balance, which is of benefit to all mines.
Benefits
- the possibility to freely choose the supplier, including the possibility of direct negotiations of the price with the manufacturer (who is simultaneously the consumer of coal from KW SA) or with a company trading with electricity,
- improving the position in the energy price negotiations,
- the possibility to purchase electricity on different markets (contract and balancing market, power exchange),
- reduction in the costs through skillful consumption management as well as demand planning and forecasting,
- precise knowledge of energy distribution, control over the energy consumption,
- reduction in the costs of electricity purchase in individual mines,
- reduction in the costs of distribution fees resulting from modernization of measuring systems (the possibility of ordering less contracted power, improvement in the accuracy of measurements),
- reduction in the purchase costs through contracting within the whole Kompania,
- continuing decrease of the “deviation costs” which in 2005 decreased by almost 51% in comparison to 2004,
- continuing improvement in the accuracy of electricity purchase forecasts which significantly influence the costs connected with the balancing market incurred by the consumer,
- reduction in the costs of equipment exploitation as the schedule of their operation is made independent of the electricity peak hours,
- the costs incurred in connection with the project of launching the Energy Purchase and Settlement Centre as well as equipping it with necessary facilities and software have paid for themselves within one winter quarter.
Other descriptions of deployments in the Case Study section:
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