Many process plants operate below full capacity, yet their cost structures still follow a full-load logic, creating hidden inefficiencies, particularly in energy consumption. By systematically optimizing operating points, companies can identify more efficient production settings, reduce energy costs, and improve flexibility under partial load conditions.
For many European process industry players, partial load operation has become a structural reality rather than a temporary deviation. Declining demand, rising energy and CO₂ prices reshaping the economics of industrial production.
Yet most plants are still designed, optimized, and managed to achieve high utilization. When production volumes decline, unit costs often increase disproportionately. Inefficient operating points, legacy plant configurations and limited transparency into energy performance at lower utilization levels are the main reasons.
The good news: partial load does not have to be inefficient. Companies that systematically analyze and redesign their operating points can significantly reduce costs, even in stagnant markets, while improving operational resilience and competitiveness.
Structural market developments continue to challenge production network across the process industries:
Demand for basic chemicals and plastics in Europe remains weak. Although moderate growth is expected from 2026 onwards, many production sites are unlikely to return to full utilization.
High and volatile energy and CO₂ prices further increase the cost of operating at lower utilization levels.
Geopolitical uncertainty and demand volatility, require production systems that can scale flexibly.
Regulatory pressure increasingly the financial incentives to energy efficiency and operational flexibility.
Many companies respond by cutting costs or adjusting production volume at short notice. While these measures may provide temporary relief, they often create new challenges for inventories and net working capital. However, without a clear understanding of how plants perform under partial load, such measures often fail to deliver sustainable impact.
A central insight from our project experience is often underestimated:
At every level of plant utilization, multiple thermodynamically feasible operating points exist, with significantly different efficiency levels.
Specific energy costs vary most significantly at utilization levels between 30% and 70%. This zone is frequently perceived as an “economic stress zone”. In reality, it represents a substantial opportunity zone:
Energy consumption does not decrease linearly with output.
Certain equipment configurations, layouts, or reactor alignments operate more efficiently under partial load than others.
Historical operating data usually already contains evidence of efficiency peaks but is simply not analyzed or systematically used.
Without a clear understanding of these differences, companies often operate at unnecessarily high costs. Those that actively optimize operating points can unlock energy cost savings of up to 10%, even without major capital investments.
The foundation for operating point optimization is transparency especially on specific energy consumption.
Leading companies take a structured, data‑driven approach which typically includes three steps:
1. Create transparency
Introduce meaningful KPIs such as specific energy consumption, analyze historical plant data, and visualize efficiency patterns across different utilization levels.
2. Analyze efficiency patterns
Analyze variances, identify stable and reproducible efficiency optima, and distinguish between technically feasible and economically optimal operating points.
3. Ensure reproducibility and stability
Define technical and organizational measures to reliably operate at identified optima without compromising safety, quality, or availability.
This shifts production steering from experience-based decision-making toward fact-based, economically optimized operations.
Partial load has become a long-term reality for many process plants in Europe. The challenge is no longer whether plants operate below full capacity, but how effectively they perform under these conditions.
Companies that systematically optimize their operating points:
reduce energy and operating costs,
lower CO₂ emissions,
increase operational flexibility, and
make better-informed production and capacity decisions.
Partial load thus shifts from a structural disadvantage to a source of competitive advantage.
Drüppel, M. / Kießling, J. / Orléa, K.
