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Technology Contracting to Focus on Core Business

Luis Fraustro - Greenblue
Innovation and Business Director and Partner

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Cas Biekmann By Cas Biekmann | Journalist and Industry Analyst - Wed, 02/21/2018 - 12:50

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In a market that is becoming increasingly demanding, it is important for companies to focus on what they know best and on what their clients need most. In a nutshell, they should focus on their core added value, says Luis Fraustro, Innovation and Business Director and Partner at Greenblue, who adds that as processes become more complex, having this focus is harder to provide.

Addressing this issue, Greenblue, a 100 percent Mexican company that offers energy efficiency solutions based on high-profitability ratios to commercial and industrial segments, is introducing energy and technology contracting to the market here. “Energy and technology contracting provides the customer with a set of multidisciplinary specialties. This means the company does not have to worry about knowledge areas that are outside its core business,” Fraustro says.

Under a technology contracting scheme, the company providing the service must offer specialized knowhow on electromechanics, such as HVAC, hydraulics, firefighting systems and building automation, among many others, in one unique and integrated solution. “This solution includes energy-efficiency systems to prevent overconsumption and energy re-usage systems to allow wasted energy to be used as input for other energyconsumption systems,” he says.

With the energy and technology contracting scheme, Greenblue is looking to recover and transform wasted energy into useful energy for industrial applications, Fraustro says, while highlighting a project developed with CMPC Tissue, located in Altamira, as an example of Greenblue’s strength. “The project involved the installation of a natural gas turbine of around 21MW. Due to the hot/ humid conditions at the location, the turbine was not providing more than 17MW and the company reached out to us to help improve the output. As Greenblue got involved in the project, we proposed a turnkey project using 5 percent of the steam generated by the turbine to cogenerate 1,000 refrigerant tons through the use of stateof-the-art absorption chiller technology. The refrigeration power was then used to cool the incoming air to the turbine into ISO conditions (15°C/59°F), which enriched the combustion of the turbine and increased the power output by 3.5-4MW.” He says that such technical problems are also common in the industry. “Many turbine systems in the market are operating under non-ISO conditions, meaning that they are providing lower power than they should.”

Although acquiring the necessary knowledge to become an energy and technology contractor is not easy, Fraustro says Greenblue’s team of engineers has the experience and know-how to excel at any task required by each of the solutions the company offers. But it is the company’s vision of innovation that Fraustro emphasizes. “We are not only able to understand innovation but to understand how innovation can be adapted to client needs to provide them with highly profitable solutions. In Mexico, projects require highly aggressive ROI times and our solutions ensure customers will meet them.” With this vision in mind, Greenblue is always looking for opportunities where it can deliver a high-quality and tailored solution that differentiates it from its competitors, even if that solution takes time to realize. “Our portfolio of solutions includes technologies that, although attractive, may not be economically viable at the moment. Those technologies are not discarded, but put on the back burner until they can be used to offer the client a higher value later on.”

CELs requirements, which became obligatory on Jan. 1, 2018, will also open an opportunity for companies that can help customers both reduce their energy consumption and increase the amount of renewable energy they consume. “The introduction of the CELs requirements for energy consumers has provided us with an even bigger market opportunity in the commercial sector, where consumers are not as informed as in the industrial sector. We can offer them a higher added value by helping them meet their requirements.” Greenblue’s two main customer segments are the commercial and industrial sectors, with hotels among its best customers, says Fraustro. “We provide them with energy solutions that involve natural gas turbines for cogeneration and trigeneration systems.”

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