Holistic Implementation of Energy Management in Supermarkets

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In supermarkets, the electricity bill is the second largest cost item after personnel. A lot of energy is used, for example, to refrigerate food. Intelligent energy management is needed to keep electricity costs low.

By integrating an energy management, companies in the retail sector should think holistically. This means that heating, cooling, energy production and also e-mobility are integrated into the energy cycle in a long-term and sustainable manner. In addition to environmental awareness and savings potential, there are also legal reasons for this.

Legal framework für buildings

Intelligent and sustainable energy management should be considered, especially for new buildings or modernization projects. Buildings are currently responsible for around 120 million tons of CO2 emissions. To achieve the climate protection targets set for 2030, a reduction of more than 40 percent would have to be achieved. Heated and air-conditioned buildings are therefore subject to certain energy requirements. These are set out in the Building Energy Act (GEG). This combines the contents of the replaced Energy Saving Ordinance (EnEV), the Renewable Energies Heat Act (EEWärmeG) and the Energy Conservation Act (EnEG).

Another law that is also relevant is the GEIG (Building Electric Mobility Infrastructure Act), which stipulates a requirement from the EU Buildings Directive for the development of charging and line infrastructure for electric mobility in buildings. It stipulates that parking spaces for electric cars must be provided in newly built residential or non-residential buildings. We have summarized the key points relating to supermarkets (non-residential buildings) below:


  • For new construction of non-residential buildings with > 6 parking spaces: Equipment with protective pipes for electric cables for every third parking space
  • For non-residential buildings: installation of at least one charging point
  • For major renovation of non-residential buildings with > 10 parking spaces: Equipping every fifth parking space with conduits for electric cables and installing at least one charging point


E-mobility in retail

E-mobility can also be integrated into the energy management cycle and managed holistically.

By charging multiple e-vehicles, electricity costs as a provider can easily shooting up. Therefore, it is advisable to regulate the charging station with smart energy management. Since not all e-cars need to be charged at the same time, it makes sense, for example, to charge with reduced power or to stagger charging based on schedules.

The expansion of e-mobility and charging infrastructure is not only in the interest of sustainability and cost savings, but also offers companies an additional profit factor in terms of customer satisfaction.

Since the current charging infrastructure in public areas is not yet developed far enough, users of electric cars face the challenge of planning their trips in advance. It is therefore particularly practical if a shopping trip can be combined with charging the e-car. According to the IFH Cologne study “E-mobility – a success factor in stationary retail?!”, e-charging options offer new sales potential for many retailers. According to the study, the location of a charging station next to a shopping opportunity is not only seen as having a positive influence on customer loyalty, but is also more frequently visited specifically by new customers.

Identify savings potentials across all locations and ideally exploit sector coupling

coneva supports companies in optimizing energy consumption and networking self-produced energy with other sectors such as cooling or e-charging infrastructure. With our digital software solutions, we make energy flows visible and analyzable. This ensures seamless integration into energy and load management and takes into account various billing systems (CPO services, third-party quantity accrual).

Systems for Energy Management in Supermarkets and Retail

A practical example is provided by a project in cooperation with the company Danfoss. Together, all energy flows of a supermarket were linked with the ventilation and air conditioning technology as well as the lighting. In addition to increasing self-consumption and providing flexibilities for the energy market, the self-produced green electricity can also be offered to e-cars for refueling.