Energy saving in industrial zones

08/10/2011

A solution to which the power sector attaches special attention to overcome power shortages is to promote energy saving programs. In particular, power saving solutions in industrial factories, which are considered to have the largest saving potential, are of great importance.

In the last four months of 2011, the country shall face the risk of power shortages. The reason is the absence of flood in hydropower reservoirs in the North, and in September and October 2011, the gas systems of Nam Con Son and Phu My 3 will be suspended for repair and maintenance as planned.

A solution to which the power sector attaches special attention to overcome power shortages is to promote energy saving programs. In particular, power saving solutions in industrial factories, which are considered to have the largest saving potential, are of great importance.

The potential is still large

Although the amount of saved power has reached 56.9 billion kWh in the country in the period of 2006 - 2010, equivalent to 3.4% of the total power consumption, but according to Mr. Nguyen Van Hiep, Head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Energy Efficiency Office, the saving potential is still great since the coefficient of elasticity between power growth rate and the GDP is still 2. The greatest "contribution" to this waste of power belongs to plants using outdated technologies. However, overcoming this problem is not simple. According to survey results of 300 enterprises implemented by VCCI in the second and the third quarter of 2010, 25% of enterprises admitted they were not able to save power. Approximately 20% of companies claimed they wanted to save power but had difficulties in costs for machinery and equipment, especially for small and medium enterprises. According to Mr. Ho Van Tuan (Ha Hanh Garment Processing Company), new and modern machines are more energy-saving but too costly, small and medium enterprises with limited sources of capital will not have opportunities to approach them. That is the reason during the purchase of machinery, the first thing companies care about is price, then the utilities, and the last thing is fuel efficiency.

Mr. Le Anh Tuan, Deputy Head of the Management Board of industrial zones in Ho Chi Minh City, said that industrial zones and export processing zones established 10 years ago have great energy consumption and waste levels are also very high, especially lighting systems (30 to 50% of energy wasted) and water pumping stations (20 to 30% of energy wasted). The main reason is the ineffective application of technologies. The use of obsolete technologies and equipment is an important cause of power waste. Therefore, besides solutions to innovate management and improve the lighting system, the monitoring of technologies and equipment meeting energy efficiency standards is very important.

Many power saving solutions

Khanh Hoi Tobacco Factory (Saigon Industry Corporation) is one of the units which have effectively applied the power management model. Solutions implemented by the factory include: investment in equipment to examine power indicators; installation of electricity meters, water consumption meters to monitor and record data every day; installation of light switches in each area of workshops; replacement of lighting bulbs; use of automatic lights in bathrooms; use of natural light; use of boilers with appropriate capacity; and improvement of the pumps. Thus, in 2010, the plant saved more than 300,000 kWh of electricity, equivalent to more than VND 300 million.

According to businesses, technology improvement is the foremost factor to save power and reduce production costs. ThepViet Steel Corporation (Pomina 2), located in Tan Thanh, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, has made an investment in modern technologies with the goal of reducing power consumption per ton of product. To produce one ton of steel, traditional steel production lines consume about 600 kWh of electricity, but Pomina 2 line consumes only about 450-500kWh per ton of steel, saving about 20% of the electricity cost. Therefore, even though this line has been put in operation with just 75% of design capacity, in the first seven months of the year, it has saved tens of millions of VND on electric bill.

However, not every company has large initial investment costs, so measures applied by small and medium enterprises are the reasonable arrangement of technological lines, restriction of production during peak hours, increase of production during off-peak hours, use of inverters ... Havico Seafood Processing and Producing Company, located in Dong Xuyen Industrial Park (Ba Ria - Vung Tau), has made synchronous improvements from the management, like shutting down unnecessary machines during peak hours, limiting the launching and running of freezing machines at peak hours. Especially, the improvement of the old refrigeration system, the investment of VND 900 million in buying a new refrigeration system and the creation of a connection between the two systems have helped reduce the amount of electricity for freezing from 3kW/kg to 1.7 kW/kg. As a result, after six months, the company has retrieved the investment capital. In 2010, power consumption decreased by 22.07% compared to 2009.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thu - Director of Thien Tri Paper Company (HCMC), said that after the deployment of 10 solutions, the company has saved 10% of power consumption. Previously, the amount of power for paper production was about 320 kWh per ton of finished product, now has been reduced to 280 kWh per ton after some synchronous solutions had been performed (reduced by 40 -50 kWh per ton of finished product). The company produces an average of 1,000 tons of paper per month and the amount of saved electricity is 40,000 to 50,000 kWh per month, equivalent to over VND 500 million per year.

For the improvement of lighting systems, the monitoring of technologies and equipment meeting energy efficiency standards is important. Tan Binh and Tan Tao industrial zones developed a pilot reform of the public lighting system, but did not apply the measure of alternately turning off 50% of lights since it did not guarantee the sufficiency of light and affected the urban landscape. Implemented solution was replacing 169 old high-pressure sodium lamps with large capacity (250W) by new generation high-pressure sodium lamps with smaller capacity (150W) while ensuring the distribution of light on the road. As a result, after a year, Tan Binh industrial zone saved 52.7% of power consumption by (58,726 kWh), equivalent to VND 67.15 million. Tan Tao industrial zone saved 48.7% of power consumption (36,982 kWh), equivalent to VND 37.8 million. In addition, these two industrial parks also decreased more than 40 tons of CO2 emissions. In the coming time, the city will apply this model of power saving in industrial zones – export processing zones.

Comprehensive participation is needed

Mr. Nguyen Van Ly, Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Power Corporation (HCMC EVN), said that more than 232.8 million kWh of electricity (equivalent to VND 325.7 billion) the city has saved in the first 7 months in 2011 includes over 43.2 million kWh saved by mass production enterprises. This is not an ideal figure for a city with thousands of businesses like Ho Chi Minh City. Industrial plants also have great potential of power saving and energy saving solutions in this area are the most sustainable. Power sector itself has also implemented solutions to help businesses save energy like the advice to use 3-phase 3-price meters to encourage businesses to use electricity at off-peak hours (from 10p.m to 4.am). EVN HCMC has consulted 326 major customers to implement energy efficiency measures; provided financial support for the audit of 98 businesses, in there, 76 companies have implemented solutions proposed by the auditor and saved 28.87 million kWh per year, equivalent to VND 34.6 billion per year; met with 898 major customers to sign an agreement on regulating additional charge, prepare standby generators and give them advice on how to use power efficiently; coordinate closely with the management of the city's industrial zones to promote, support and monitor the electricity use of enterprises in industrial zones.

In addition to the implementation of energy saving, many businesses are interested in projects of saving water, reducing CO2 emissions and improving productivity and product quality. The most difficult problem for these companies is the lack of investment capital and the unawareness of loan sources. Besides, power saving in production, sales and consumption in Export Processing Zones - Industrial Zone has not been thorough. Tan Binh and Tan Tao Industrial Zones are piloting a model of energy efficiency, but just in the field of public lighting. Mr. Li said that for energy saving to be more efficient, besides solutions and sanctions, the issue of propagation to raise the awareness of users is critical. Also, the participation of relevant ministries such as Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Finance... is needed to support enterprises in investing in modern equipment and improving technologies toward energy efficiency. If energy saving is performed better in all areas, especially in Industrial Zones – Export Processing Zones, it will surely achieve much greater results.

By Minh Duc

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