Energy-intensive cement company Heidelberg enters Greek flexibility market

Independent flexibility services provider Sympower and Heidelberg Materials Hellas, a Greek cement production company, have announced a partnership to unlock and monetise the inherent flexibility of its energy-intensive equipment.

By utilising three of Heidelberg Materials Hellas’ cement mills and one of its raw mills, Sympower will optimise their energy flexibility and provide their capacity to Greece’s balancing markets, helping to strengthen the electricity grid.

Using its AI-based platform, Sympower will coordinate the assets to be optimised for profitability, minimising the impact on the daily functions of Heidelberg Materials Hellas’ operations.

Heidelberg Materials Hellas’ assets will contribute several megawatts of capacity to help stabilise Greece’s energy grid during peak demand periods.

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Sympower is the first independent aggregator to go live in Greece and Heidelberg’s participation in demand response brings its Greek flexibility capacity to 70MW. To date Sympower has 1.3GW of flexibility capacity across Europe.

“Innovative demand response services have the potential to revolutionise the way businesses such as Heidelberg Materials Hellas manage and consume energy. This partnership is enabling us to shape a more dependable energy network benefiting industrial businesses and energy consumers alike,” said Sympower’s Greek commercial manager Kostas Athanasopoulos, in a release.

“We are thrilled to partner with Heidelberg Materials Hellas and further extend our services within Greece to contribute substantially to the country’s energy sector. This collaboration is a testament to our commitment to pioneering renewable energy transition across Europe.”

Heidelberg Materials Hellas’ plant manager, Dimitrios Lianos adds that the partnership allows the company to optimise its energy consumption patterns, unlock new revenues and strengthen operational resilience.

“By working together with Sympower, we can ensure that the assets we’ve agreed to connect to the balancing market are optimised and that our normal processes are as little impacted as possible.”