Spacewell Energy Partner Spotlight is back! Today we would like to highlight our partner Socomec, a French manufacturer of electrical equipment specialising in the energy performance of low-voltage electrical networks. The Socomec group celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2022 and is now operating worldwide through its 28 subsidiaries. Socomec is a recognised specialist in the field of electrical energy measurement and metering.
We invite you to read on to discover how Socomec supports its customers in their energy performance while integrating energy efficiency into its infrastructure, through its Energy+ project.
10 Questions to Socomec
1) Why did you become a Spacewell Energy Partner?
For several reasons. This partnership has now been in place for several years and we initially opted for Spacewell Energy because we were looking for a platform gathering all the functionalities expected by our customers. Indeed, they wanted to better manage their energy through an accessible platform, i.e. one that could be easily used by non-IT specialists and that would allow for rapid and economical deployment, both on a single and multi-site basis.
Furthermore, we felt that Spacewell Energy offered real expertise in software publishing. In addition, they actively listened to our expectations, which was reflected in the platform’s development roadmap.
2) What features of the Platform do you use most often?
To begin with, our customers use the most basic functions: dashboards, consumption and indicator analysis functions, reports to share analyses with other users and alerts. Increasingly, however, we notice that they also value more advanced functions such as Automatic Baseline Calculation and M&V, which, after an initial “observation” phase, enable them to enter a second “action” phase.
3) What are your customers’ 3 biggest Energy Efficiency Challenges?
The challenges are indeed numerous but the stakes are also quite high.
- The main challenges for our clients are often going beyond their energy bills by setting up a metering plan to track in real-time where, when and by whom energy is consumed.
- Secondly, our clients often need to switch from using office tools such as Excel, which are ultimately very time-consuming and not very collaborative, to using real software dedicated to energy management.
- Finally, the right tools are essential, but their proper use is essential, which is why our clients are increasingly asking for support from an energy manager who will help them set up a personalised action plan to improve their energy performance.
4) How does our software help your customers overcome these barriers and save energy?
The energy management platform automates the collection and processing of consumption data, saving time and ensuring continuous and regular monitoring. Users can generate energy savings and gain time to focus on analysing energy performance indicators and implementing improvement actions.
The platform also allows information to be shared with all employees and to engage them in a global approach. Indeed, behaviour change is an important lever in reducing consumption.
5) What Energy Trends would you highlight in 2023?
Since 2020, we have seen a significant increase in companies’ willingness to equip themselves with energy measurement and metering systems. This trend will persist in 2023.
Regulations and high energy costs will continue to push companies to take action. Indeed, monitoring is essential for a successful energy management strategy.
6) Which sectors are, in your experience, more receptive to Energy Management?
Given the sharp rise in energy costs, all sectors are now very responsive to better energy management. The industrial sectors most affected are those where the share of energy costs is very significant in the overall cost of the product. Examples include the food industry, cement plants, glass factories, the paper and cardboard industry, etc.
7) Have you noticed a change in behaviour since the Energy Crisis started?
Yes, completely. We have noted a strong increase in companies, regardless of their sector of activity, installing measurement and metering systems and setting up a real improvement plan, now with the support of general management. The increase in equipment, the implementation of an action plan with quantified objectives, and the involvement of several departments in the company up to the general management require businesses to put in place management tools such as the N’View* platform.
8) What are the advantages of an Energy Management Solution in the context of soaring energy prices? How to scale up the use of Energy Management Solutions?
Given the current and future context of energy costs, we believe that an energy management solution is essential for a large number of companies affected by this boom in costs and which need to react to maintain their margins and their business. Of course, an energy management solution is not enough to control energy costs, but it is an indispensable tool for any company’s energy policy.
In my opinion, the large-scale use of energy management solutions mainly depends on awareness. These solutions are not yet widely known by companies and are often mistaken for BMS/ITM/monitoring systems, which are considered expensive, complex and unsuitable, whereas a dedicated energy management solution can be deployed very quickly with a rapid ROI!
About Socomec
9) Can you present your new products?
The SOCOMEC group invests more than 10% of its turnover each year in research and development with the ambition of regularly offering the market innovative and unique solutions. In this respect, in 2022 we launched the first IEC 61557-12 certified electrical measuring station communicating in LoRaWAN IoT technology! After a few months of qualification, this solution has now been adopted and deployed by major international groups such as Airbus, Total, Michelin… a real success! And other new products are planned for 2023…
10) What are Socomec’s Energy Priorities for 2023?
For several years now, the Socomec Group has put the management of its energy consumption at the heart of its priorities, but recent events have indeed accelerated the deployment of the “Energy+” action plan. This plan has an ambitious objective of reducing our energy consumption by 25%. To achieve this goal, several actions have already been implemented, such as: the improvement of our multi-energy metering plan, the lowering of the temperature set point in the offices, the involvement of employees through the application of eco gestures, and also through more profound changes to our industrial processes.
We are supported in this plan by energy managers from E’nergys, a Socomec Group entity specialising in energy efficiency solutions.
Finally, we are of course using the N’View platform to manage all the actions in this programme!
About the interviewee
Olivier Goujon has been working at Socomec for about ten years as a Business Developer in the Power Switching and Monitoring Business Line. His main mission is to support the sales teams in the sale of energy efficiency solutions and more specifically the N’View software solution dedicated to energy management.
Would you like to know more about our partner programme? Do not hesitate to contact us to discuss the different possible collaborations.
*Note: Socomec uses the name “N’view” to market the Spacewell Energy platform under its own brand name.
