Energy consumption
The main source of emissions,
energy consumption is also the factor on which Brembo shall focus its commitment to achieve its net zero operating model target. Therefore, in line with the indications of the global scientific community, Brembo's policy is to
maximise efficiency in the use of energy while reducing consumption wherever possible and keeping emissions to a minimum. In order to
minimise the environmental impact and improve energy performance, the strategy is aimed at
reducing energy intensity and CO2equivalent emissions due to production processes, while ensuring economically sustainable operations.
In order to reach these objectives, and in keeping with what has been set out in its Environment and Energy Policy, revised in 2023, the Group has provided itself with an
Energy Management System compliant with
ISO 50001:2018, extending it gradually to an increasing number of sites.
The
key points of the Group’s energy-related strategy are:
-
measurement and reporting of site energy uses and CO2equivalent emissions;
-
audit and review of the performance of the Energy Management System;
- setting of targets for reducing energy intensity and CO2equivalent emissions;
-
identification, implementation and spreading of energy efficiency improvement projects, through a comparative analysis of the effects on performance;
-
intelligent system planning aimed at minimising energy waste;
- promotion of the development of digital systems serving energy management;
- constant research and evaluation of new solutions for energy self-production;
- constant commitment to in-house research into new production processes and optimisation of existing ones;
-
constant search for opportunities for heat recovery and other forms of energy output from the processes.
When
choosing energy sources, Brembo
favours renewable energy sources over fossil fuels, on the one hand by pursuing in 2023 as well the Group’s commitment relating to
renewable energy purchases, on the other by increasing its self-production capacity, including through the installation of photovoltaic panels.
The
energy quota
from renewable sources which the Group procured rose from 69% in 2022 to
75% in 2023. This result was achieved thanks to the
purchase of renewable energy certificates (Guarantee of Origin, I-RECs, RECs, etc.),
PPAs (Power Purchasing Agreements) and
other contractual agreements.
100% renewable electricity at
Italian sites was maintained in 2023 as well through the purchase of guarantee of origin certificates and electricity generated by photovoltaic systems installed at the Sellero production facility.
Even the
Mexican and Brazilian plants kept
100% of their electricity sourced from renewables for the year 2023. In the other countries in which Brembo operates, the Group increased its percentage of electricity from renewable sources: in
China it went from 44% in 2022 to
53% in 2023, in
Czech Republic from 29% to
43% and in
Poland from 85% to
86%. Finally, Brembo increased the purchase of REC certificates in the
US for its consumption in the country from 24% to 48%. In
India, as of 2021 Brembo purchases renewable source electricity from photovoltaic systems installed at the Pune site (plant with a capacity of 900 kWp ) In 2023, renewable energy accounted for 7% of the consumption in the country. Lastly,
Spain’s share of renewable energy was
93%.
With regard to
energy efficiency, the actions taken to achieve these goals include, for example,
adopting advanced monitoring systems (B.E.P. — Brembo Energy Platform), interconnected with the factory’s main utilities according to a smart factory approach,
replacing obsolete systems with others using more efficient technologies,
reducing waste (e.g., the search for and reduction of compressed air leakages), automatically shutting down systems or parts of systems during unproductive periods),
heat recovery (for instance, from compressors’ cooling circuits).
The promotion of energy saving, which is reflected in the rational use of energy and hence in reduced consumption, is a topic that involves all the Group’s operating units, which were asked to help achieve, each with a
specific target, Brembo’s energy efficiency objective set for 2023 at
2.70% (calculated as contribution from improvement actions achieved thanks to energy efficiency projects compared to previous year's consumption).
The
200 projects developed in 2023 generated an
overall energy saving of 147,843 GJ, equal to
22,551 tonnes of CO2equivalent. This
objective has been largely exceeded, with a
3.48% result especially thanks to the activities aimed at optimising the foundries' production processes.
