Kimberly-Clark reduces costs with demand-response solution from Enel X

Enel X helped a Kimberly-Clark plant reduce its energy use in Huntsville, Ont.

Enel X North America has partnered with many companies to help them with energy savings. An example is Kimberly-Clark, known for brands like Kleenex, Huggies, Kotex, and Depend. For eight years, Kimberly-Clark’s Huntsville, Ont. mill has worked with Enel X to earn payments through the province’s demand-response program, due to the latter’s unique expertise and understanding of plant operation.

Energy savings with uninterrupted operation

This Huntsville mill is a 24/7 operation that manufactures and packages several tissue products. In 2010, management wanted to reduce energy use by 500 kilowatts to participate in demand response. After visiting the mill, Enel X deemed that the seven-megawatt plant could maximize payments by reducing its energy use by five megawatts. Kimberly-Clark decided to shut down tissue production during a four-hour dispatch to take off 5.3 megawatts. Because the mill operates with in-process inventory at hand, packaging could continue without interruption.

The plant uses this shutdown to perform maintenance on tissue machinery, expanding its lifespan while eliminating additional downtime. Kimberly-Clark also earns capacity payments this way, without having to invest capital into increasing efficiency. Benefits include not only energy savings, but also regular payments to feed into the mill’s infrastructure, better-organized maintenance workflow, and higher awareness of the status of Ontario’s power grid. Demand response keeps the mill competitive in efficiency.

By participating in demand response, the plant maintains the stability of the provincial electric power grid. Reducing energy use helps to balance the supply and demand of electricity, allowing the grid to function smoothly without interruption. Collaboration with Enel X helps the mill know exactly what to shut down during a dispatch, and the company stays in touch with the Enel X crew to test and verify its ability to curtail as required.

The Huntsville plant has been recognized by Kimberly-Clark’s corporate headquarters as a direct contributor to the company’s sustainability goals and a leader in energy savings and efficiency – all with Enel X’s help.

To learn more about how Ontario businesses are leveraging energy storage technology, read this whitepaper from Enel X, Understanding Ontario’s Energy Storage Opportunity.

For more information, contact Enel X.

• Tweet