Digital Energy Management for Electrified Industrial Furnaces: Demand Flexibility and Energy Storage at Volvo’s Skövde Plant (FLEXFURN)
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | Högskolan i Skövde - Högskolan i Skövde Inst f ingenjörsvetenskap |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 8 267 290 |
| Project duration | September 2026 - August 2029 |
| Status | Ongoing |
| Venture | Advanced digitalization - Industrial needs-driven innovation |
| Call | Industrial flexible energy management |
Purpose and goal
FLEXFURN develops and validates an AI-driven Energy Management System (EMS) that coordinates demand-side management, layered energy storage, and waste heat recovery at Volvo´s Skövde plant, enabling electrified furnace operation within existing grid limits. The goal is reducing peak demand reduction and cost savings, advancing the EMS to TRL 6-7 and delivering a transferable methodology for grid-constrained, electricity-intensive Swedish industries.
Expected effects and result
The project delivers a validated, full-scale industrial EMS (TRL 6-7) that cuts peak demand up to 30% and electricity costs 5-20% versus an unmanaged baseline, while producing a decision-support tool for demand, tariff, and flexibility forecasting, plus a techno-economic sizing methodology for layered storage and waste-heat integration. These results remove a key electrification barrier, strengthen Swedish AI-EMS expertise, and yield transferable methods for heavy industry.
Planned approach and implementation
FLEXFURN runs across six work packages. WP1 covers project management. WP2 develops demand side management scheduling for furnaces, EVs, and HVAC. WP3 assesses layered storage sizing (supercapacitors, BESS, hydrogen). WP2-3 outputs feed WP4, integrating the AI-driven EMS with forecasting and grid signals. WP5 evaluates performance via KPIs and scenarios. WP6 disseminates results. University of Skövde leads while Volvo, Vattenfall, and AI Sweden contribute across WPs.