INITIAL SITUATION
The client operates cogeneration plants supplying electricity, heating, and cooling to two of Italy’s largest airports, with surplus energy sold back to the grid. These facilities rely on combined heat and power (CHP) technology integrated with absorption chillers for trigeneration, allowing simultaneous production of electricity, heat, and refrigerated air or water from a single primary energy source.
Although the plants were equipped with a DCS (Distributed Control System) capable of collecting large volumes of operational data, the system could only verify whether parameters stayed within predefined limits. It could not assess whether the plant was operating at optimal energy efficiency, a critical limitation for organizations focused on optimizing energy sources and increasing sustainability. This issue became more evident as electricity market prices grew increasingly volatile.
The main operational challenge was balancing electrical and thermal production. In winter, high thermal demand supported efficient cogeneration. In summer, lower heating requirements typically led to shutting down the cogeneration unit, reducing overall efficiency and dissipating unused heat into the atmosphere. The trigeneration system partially addressed this by converting excess heat into cooling energy, but identifying the most profitable and sustainable production strategy in real time required analytical capabilities beyond the existing control system. For Plant Managers, determining whether to prioritize electricity generation or thermal and cooling output based on market prices and airport demand was a daily, high-impact decision.
THE CHALLENGE
The company needed to maximize revenues while maintaining high energy efficiency and sustainability standards in a context of volatile electricity prices. Key objectives included:
- – Implementing real-time energy efficiency monitoring for the entire plant and individual assets
- – Identifying inefficiencies immediately instead of during periodic maintenance reviews
- – Optimizing the daily production plan by selecting the most economically advantageous configuration, balancing electrical output with thermal and cooling production
- – Supporting Energy Manager and Plant Manager decision-making with data-driven insights rather than experience alone
- – Achieving measurable economic returns while minimizing energy waste and improving sustainability
The complexity of the challenge lay in managing multiple variables simultaneously: fluctuating energy prices, variable airport thermal demand, operational constraints of equipment (such as start-stop limits and minimum load requirements), and the need to ensure consistent efficiency across all operating scenarios.
THE SOLUTION
Mipu developed an intelligent monitoring system for energy infrastructure, designed to leverage existing DCS data and convert raw measurements into actionable insights through advanced energy modeling and simulation.
Phase 1: Energy Model Development
Detailed energy models were created for each plant component. These models calculated theoretical performance benchmarks based on real-time operating conditions, enabling continuous comparison between actual performance and optimal efficiency targets.
Phase 2: Real-Time Monitoring Dashboard
The system provided a user-friendly dashboard for operators and Plant Managers, showing:
- – Electrical and thermal energy production versus consumption
- – Energy supplied to the airport and exported to the grid
- – Continuous efficiency monitoring at both plant and asset level
- – Automatic alerts highlighting deviations from optimal performance
The dashboard was fully integrated with existing SCADA systems, allowing rapid adoption without additional training burdens.
Phase 3: Asset Optimizer Implementation
The core innovation was the Asset Optimizer, which simulated multiple production scenarios using real-time energy prices, operational constraints, and airport demand. The tool determined whether maximizing electricity generation or thermal and cooling output would produce the best economic and sustainability outcomes. Maintenance costs and carbon certificate impacts were also included, providing Energy Managers with a complete and accurate decision-support system.
Phase 4: Remote Management Capability
Secure remote access was implemented to support daily monitoring and optimization during the post-installation phase. This allowed continuous performance tuning and ongoing guidance to plant operators, reinforcing long-term efficiency improvements.
RESULTS
The intelligent monitoring system delivered immediate and measurable results across economic, operational, and sustainability dimensions.
Economic Performance:
The estimated economic benefit reached €1,200,000 in the first month, driven primarily by optimized daily production planning. The system combined operator expertise with simulation-based profit calculations, enabling informed decisions for every possible operating scenario.
Efficiency Gains:
Real-time diagnostics enabled early identification of performance losses:
Detection of gas turbine compressor fouling, with clear quantification of the economic benefits of cleaning
Identification of early efficiency degradation in a steam generator, allowing maintenance to be scheduled during a planned shutdown and preventing approximately €10,000 per month in wasted resources
Operational Benefits:
- – Simplified decision-making for Plant Managers through clear visualization of efficiency and performance indicators
– Improved organizational knowledge by making the impact of parameter changes immediately visible
– Reduced inefficiency detection time from weeks to real-time alerts
– Enabled a proactive maintenance strategy aligned with sustainability and cost optimization goals
The platform transformed complex cogeneration plant management into a fully data-driven process, empowering Energy Managers and Plant Managers to confidently optimize energy sources, increase sustainability, and maximize economic performance based on precise, real-time insights.
