The average annual electricity consumption of a four-person household in Slovakia, which does not use electricity to heat water, is around 2,200 KWh. The average annual consumption of the logistics platform is approximately 1,400 MWh. It cannot be denied that logistics facilities are very energy intensive.

"The annual electricity consumption of all FM Logistic facilities in Slovakia reaches 2,600 MWh.In the future, the demand may be even higher, among other things also due to changing regulations, for all of them I will give the example of the obligation to install charging stations for electric cars, which is to come into force from 2025," explains Julien Lalande, director of the FM Logistic platform at Sered.

All this forces logistics entities to constantly look for solutions that will enable them not only to reduce energy consumption, but also to produce it for their own needs. There are many options in this regard.

Photovoltaics work best in warehouses
Due to their surface area, logistics warehouses are an ideal place to place this type of installation. This is especially true in the case of cooling devices and heat pumps, since the demand for electricity is highest in the summer, when the photovoltaic device has the highest production capacity. The annual need of a warehouse for fresh products with an area of ​​approximately 10,000 m2 can reach up to 2,500 MWh. A demand coverage of 50 to 60% can be achieved with a photovoltaic installation.

At FM Logistic, they have extensive experience with photovoltaics, especially in Poland, where they launched the first smaller installation in 2019. Later, other, much larger installations followed, and soon the largest one with an output of 800 kWp in Olszów will join them. In the 2023/2024 fiscal year, the FM Group worked to improve the sober use and energy efficiency of warehouses and accelerated the installation of photovoltaic panels at multiple sites across all countries. Also thanks to this, 79% of operations are powered by green electricity, while the goal is to reach 100% by 2025.

Lighting and motion sensors
Energy consumption in logistics facilities can also be significantly reduced through investments such as replacing lighting with energy-efficient LED lighting or installing motion sensors, especially in areas where it is not necessary to have lighting always on. At FM Logistic, the process of replacing sodium lamps began in 2015, and currently all of its facilities have 100% LED lighting. The very installation of motion sensors, which turn off the lights in the warehouse aisles, in turn brought up to 25% savings in electricity.

"On our platform in Seredi, we devoted ourselves comprehensively to saving energy and reducing our carbon footprint. We focused on such areas as precise monitoring of electricity consumption for individual parts of the operation, economical operation of technical equipment, temperature management according to requirements, but last but not least, we also devoted ourselves to training and employee engagement," adds the FM Logistic expert.

Electric cars have saved emissions
Regarding the environment, FM Logistic strives to achieve carbon neutrality in all its operations by 2030 in line with its Powering 2030 strategy. To achieve this goal, the group focuses primarily on optimizing transport through the pooling of deliveries, planning the number of vehicles deployed, fine-tuning shipment sizes and the use of low-emission vehicles wherever possible.

Julien Lalande, director of the FM Logistic platform at Seredi

"We also monitor the environmental impact of our clients' transport so that they can choose the best combination of transport solutions based on reliable data on CO2 emissions and air pollution. We recently tested a refrigerated trailer in Poland as part of the Transport 4.0 program. The latter transported fresh products from the FMCG industry, such as vegetables, fruit, meat and chocolate. The results were astounding," says J. Lalande.

During eight days of testing, the truck covered nearly 1,900 km and made 11 deliveries. By replacing the combustion engine with an electric motor, CO2 emissions were reduced by more than 1.81 tons on the given route.

The effects of energy efficiency measures are confirmed by international certificates such as American LEED or European BREEAM. These are multi-criteria systems that allow very precise determination of the building's impact on the environment. At the moment, FM Logistic has a LEED certificate for the facilities in Będzin and Wiskitky, and the platforms in Błonia and Olszowa are awaiting a decision.

In addition to the fact that certificates confirm, among other things, energy efficiency, they contribute to building the image of a responsible company, which thus gains in the eyes of suppliers. Increasing energy efficiency is therefore an investment that pays off from this point of view as well.