Digital energy twin for sustainable factory planning: Siemens and Mercedes-Benz collaborate on digital twin

To facilitate the integration of energy efficiency and sustainability measures into plant planning and optimization, Siemens and Mercedes-Benz have created a Digital Energy Twin as part of a strategic partnership. It is intended to significantly shorten the planning phase of factories. The digital twin was developed and tested at Factory 56 in Sindelfingen.

Based on the characteristic models of buildings, technical systems and energy production equipment, Digital Energy Twin integrates information such as weather data, profile simulation, system selection and measurements. By simulating a real energy system, the proposed scheduling scenarios are validated for their energy consumption.

Recommendations are then made to improve the desired outcomes, including energy efficiency and cost savings associated with carbon reduction. In this way, it is intended to improve and simplify energy planning in the initial phase for new and existing industries, thereby significantly reducing planning time.

As part of the partnership, Siemens provides training and support services for the digital energy twin and is responsible for maintenance and further development. Mercedes-Benz wants to use a tool that can be distributed throughout its global production network.

Arno van der Merwe, Vice President of Production Planning at Mercedes Benz Cars, explains the advantages of the energy twin as follows: “The Digital Energy Twin is our answer to successfully visualizing, analyzing and optimizing energy building processes for sustainable way. We are benefiting from this innovative approach to better understand existing factory buildings and transform them into smart living buildings.”