A machine consumes power or energy?
Once it is understood that power is the rate of energy consumption (which you say you do), then use of either term in a paper is very much driven by the context.

When talking very informally, the terms are often used interchangeably, however incorrect that is.

When talking formally, you'd use one or the other, depending on what what important. 

For a paper on a hydro-power power installation. The size of the lake is related to the energy consumption of the town it serves. The size of the generators and transmission lines is related to the peak power consumption.

For a paper on an industrial machine it's a little more difficult, and depends on the duty cycle of the machine. The size of the switch-board, fuses and transmission lines to it depend on the peak power consumption of the machine. The running costs per year depend on the energy consumption over that period, so how many hours per day it's in use, and at what fraction of maximum capacity. If it's a water pump that operates at constant flow 24/7, then the relationship between the two is very simple.