Ensinger
Background
Ensinger located in Tonyrefail, South Wales is the UK headquarters of parent company, Ensinger GmbH, based in Nufringen in Germany.
Ensinger is a world leader in the field of engineering plastics, excelling in both the manufacture of semi-finished stock shapes and profiles and in the machining of plastic materials.
Ensinger in the U.K. produce high-performance and engineering thermoplastics. Distribution of extruded and cast semi-finished plastic products, machined finished parts, industrial profiles and tubes as well as building products. Ensinger are market leaders in the automotive, aerospace, medical, food technology, oil and gas, electrical, mechanical and plant engineering, building and many other industries.
The Ensinger site at Parc Erin, Tonyrefail, Mid Glamorgan is a core manufacturing site for the Company and represents the U.K. Head Office.
Key Stats
Client Type
Corporate
Industry
Manufacturing
Location
Parc Erin, Tonyrefail, Mid Glamorgan
Project Type
Tier One Solar Energy System – Roof Mounted
System Size
310 kW
Installation Date
November 2017
The Brief
Ensinger are a successful and profitable organisation with a key focus on efficiency, reducing waste and emissions. As a Group they respect the objectives of sustainable environmental protection and act responsibly when using natural resources.
Ensinger want to make their contribution to the protection of the environment. They permanently optimise their processes and products as well their energy related productivity.
They were also very conscious of the increasing price of electricity through the business and as a high use manufacturing organisation they were keen to protect their bottom line by introducing efficiency and energy saving measures.
To this end they saw a solar energy system as potentially offering both the potential for an immediate cost saving and a hedge against electricity price inflation as well as delivering on the Corporate commitment to their environmental contribution and a sustainable commitment.
With the Parc Erin, Tonyrefail site representing both the Head Quarters of the Company in the UK and a main manufacturing site with a high energy usage profile, it was decided that a solar energy system should be evaluated and if appropriate then commissioned through a direct capital investment in the project.
The Solution
Centreco worked with Ensinger to design, develop and model an appropriate solar energy system for their Tonyrefail site. Through an operational review and a physical site survey, Centreco scoped the electricity usage profile and the physical and operational requirements of a system.
By then matching the current and projected electricity consumption profile to the installation design in tandem and financially modelling the project returns, Centreco proposed a 310kW installation for the site.
Ensinger undertook a thorough review of this work in the context of assessing the potential against their own internal investment and environmental criteria. Capital approval for the 310kW installation was approved as a result.
Centreco undertook the installation through the Autumn of 2017 using tier one Canadian Solar 330W panels combined with Huawei SUN2000 inverters to produce electricity to directly feed the production facility. Centreco also installed a Rbee monitoring kit and Smart Logger system to allow a full monitoring and management service for the installation.
Outcome
The 310kW solar energy system at Ensinger’s Parc Erin premises is consistently over performing projections and now makes up 25% of the electricity usage at the site. This is exceeding Ensinger’s expectations and is therefore delivering the corporate and financial objectives of the investment in the project.
The environmental benefits forecast through the investment in this renewable energy source are being exceeded.
With Ensinger being subject to U.K. wide energy price increases so the short-term profit and loss benefits are being achieved. The attractive longer term returns of hedging a fixed electricity cost, as a result of the capital investment in a solar energy installation, are more than feeding through. Then benefits of this solar energy project with benefit Ensinger for many years to come.
Feedback
James Cole, the Group Finance Manager of Ensinger U.K. commented on the solar energy installation and Centreco’s installation as follows
“Ensinger looked to install a solar energy system at our Parc Erin site to address our environmental responsibilities as a Company and to drive electricity cost savings in our operation.”
“We were using our own capital to fund the project, so everything had to be right. Centreco’s presentations were clear and accurate, their forecasts and financial modelling were consistent with our assumptions and I am pleased to say our system has overperformed those projections.”
“We dealt with senior professionals from Centreco and were impressed with their approach, responsiveness and knowledge. We were confident that Centreco would deliver and they did.”
“Our installation was delivered on time with all issues resolved to our satisfaction. The system is accounting for 25% of our on-site electricity usage. It is more than meeting our financial and environmental expectations.”
“From our perspective, with the potential levels of electricity price inflation in the market a solar energy system offers both a short term profit and loss win and a solid long term investment for a Company.”
“I would certainly recommend Centreco to model, design and install a commercial solar energy system to anyone considering such a project.”
