Actility

Russia offers a unique environment for IoT connectivity compared to densely populated European countries, because of the sheer size of the Russian Federation and its sparsely-populated or empty areas where there is no GSM mobile network coverage – although these areas can still be home to industries such as mining, oil & gas production or logging. In addition, there is a specific requirement to store and process all data within Russian borders to comply with national data protection regulations.

Salonit Anhovo, the largest cement production factory in Slovenia, aimed to join the top 10% most energy-efficient cement factories in Europe. Despite already using around 60% alternative fuels and maintaining a CO2 emission factor below the benchmark factor, the factory faced significant challenges due to the energy-intensive nature of clinker production. The factory's electricity consumption averaged 85 GWh, with 2500 Tera Joules of energy used for clinker burning, leading to energy bills of up to 9 million EUR per year, primarily for electricity. Salonit needed to comply with European energy regulation and sought to leverage a co-financing mechanism to invest in equipment and monitoring solutions that would help meet the energy consumption reduction target.

BTC City Ljubljana, one of the largest business, shopping, entertainment, recreation and cultural centers in Europe, faced a significant challenge due to its high energy consumption. The center's energy needs were comparable to those of urban centers, due to its large number of facilities, wide area, and high consumption of electricity, water, and heating. The management recognized the economic necessity of energy management and sought to reduce energy consumption and costs, as well as subsequent CO2 emissions. They aimed to implement an energy management (EM) system for its multi-purpose facilities, in line with the ISO 50001 standard, which supports organizations to conserve resources and tackle climate change. The challenge was to control the consumption of individual energy products and monitor consumption by individual end-users, requiring tools for easy data collection, performance analysis, and production of automated reports.

Many cities are grappling with issues such as aging infrastructure, increasing air pollution, traffic congestion, rising energy prices, and scarcity of natural resources. The traditional methods of managing these challenges are proving to be inefficient and unsustainable. For instance, waste management companies have been operating with limited innovation in operational efficiency. Trash containers often fill up too soon, and there is no real-time information on waste bins filling level. Similarly, city parking management systems are under pressure due to high and unstable demand from users. The challenge is to fully exploit all available spaces and connect them with IoT to monitor and optimize the occupancy of parking spaces. Additionally, most cities lack real-time monitoring of street light conditions, leading to energy inefficiency and higher operating costs. Lastly, cities face environmental challenges such as air pollution, noise pollution, water safety issues, inefficient irrigation, and flood risks.