The Article 33 of the Law on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy mandates the key energy users (enterprises, companies) to have energy audited every 3 years. What is the so-called Economical and Efficient Use of Energy? How have the businesses in Binh Duong undergone this process? And which solutions does the authority apply for promotion of this program?

Energy Efficiency is a combination of survey activities, collection and analysis of energy consumption in businesses, buildings, production process or a system ... The objective of Energy Efficiency is to identify areas of wasteful use of energy and energy-saving opportunities, thereby working out the solutions to use energy more efficiently, in order to avoid waste of national energy resources, helping companies save costs of production, and running business, and enhance the competitiveness of enterprises.

In Binh Duong, the Industry Promotion Center has actively responded to the National Target Program on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy in accordance with Decree No. 102/2003 / ND-CP dated 3-9-2003. The Centre has deployed to the enterprises the Law on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy (dated 17-6-2010); Decree 21/2011 / ND-CP (dated 29-3-2011) of Government Regulation specifying the details and measures to implement the Law on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy; Circular No. 09/2012 / TT-BCT (dated 20-4-2012) of the Ministry of Industry and Trade with provisions for the planning, reports on implementation progress of the plans for Economical and Efficient Use of Energy, and its outputs to the businesses in the province. Although the law enhancement has been in place for more than 10 years, and the implementation of the national target program has been undergoing for nearly 5 years, but so far, many enterprises in the province have not performed in accordance with energy efficiency.

Positive Effect from Energy Efficiency performed by an enterprise

Among dozens of companies in Energy Efficiency performance in Binh Duong "Trieu Phu Loc" Company Limited, a professional producer and processor of interior woodwork, and sculpture, participated in the program in coordination with the Industry Promotion Center, and initially they have achieved the positive effects. The authority organized a survey to assess measure and produce detailed calculations for the production workshop areas of the company, to find out the spots of non-economical use of energy, thereby propose effective solutions for the factory. After collecting data, conducting surveys and actual measurements in the factory sector, the improvement solutions were offered to focus on the capacitor system, the compressor system and the air intake vent system.

Regarding the capacitor system, due to not fitting the capacitor to the distribution cabinets of the machines, thus the average power factor at the machines is relatively low (approximately 0.45 to 0.75). The length from the substation to the tool machine factory is quite long - 90m, which causes power loss and voltage loss, reducing the voltage at the end of the line. If the capacitors are moved from the substation to the electrical panel cabinets near the large-capacity tool machine, the total power of savings is 5,472 kWh / year.

Working on the compressor system, after the optimal leakage, the improvement allowed a full system recovery of 10%. The awareness of the workers on the use of compressed air is raised. It was the planning, the optimization system of compressed air piping, and greatly reducing pressure losses in the pipeline. Checks over the compressor capacity and air leaks in the compressed air distribution system are periodically performed. Regularly, gas leaks are inspected and worn joints are replaced with new joints.

For air intake system, it is identified that immediate fixing of the leaks in the inlets, the connection between hard zinc joints and corrugated pipe sections. The driving mechanism with current pulley is replaced with the direct drive. After the shutdown, workers are reminded to shut the air-intake door and to lower ventilation doors just within the reach for workers to facilitate the wind door open/close. With the offered solutions in place, the total investment is VND 50 million, the plant can save 53.208kWh/year, equivalent to VND 94.14 million savings/year, while reducing CO2 emissions into the environment by 22.88 tons/year. Through statistics, it shows that the power consumption during peak time accounts for 22.54%, the electricity costs account for 36.81%. Therefore, good management and operation of sub-load to avoid peak hours will help reduce energy costs significantly.

Besides the Energy Efficiency mission at the company, the Industry Promotion Center also takes notes of some of the constraints that may occur in the deployment process, such as choosing suppliers of reliable equipment, with the necessity of investment report for investment solutions to be approved by the investors. In addition, to maintain efficient operation of energy savings, the factory should establish an Energy Management Board. The plant can coordinate with financial institutions which release investment loans to energy efficiency solutions, such as Vietinbank, the Esco companies.

Invest to save energy, opportunities for businesses

Besides the Energy Efficiency realization for the enterprises, the Industry Promotion Center also held a workshop on the Green Investment Facility (GIF) for small and medium sized enterprises in Binh Duong. This is partially a series of workshops to be organized in 10 provinces, to hit the objectives of LCEE Project. The Low Carbon Transition in Energy Efficiency Project will continue to support the National Target Program on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy, with the Fund budget for investment up to VND 110 billion.

In 2015 and 2016, the project aims to support roughly 100-130 SMEs operating in 3 sectors: brick yard, ceramics and food processing. Participating in the project, the companies have the opportunity to receive a loan of VND 0.4 - VND 4 billion for investments in energy efficiency. After 800 hours of operation, those businesses which achieve the energy efficiency indicators and reduce the CO2 emissions as projected by the project, will be rewarded by LCEE with the amount equivalent to 10-30% of the loan value.

At the workshop in Binh Duong, PhD. Nguyen Xuan Quang, the National Project Consultant, presented the program and answered the questions of the engineering firms about the details and power saving calculations, applicable by the project. At the same time, project experts and project staff also facilitated the enterprises' representatives in their discussion on ideas for energy-saving projects at their businesses and calculation of investment costs. In the database of Binh Duong Department of Industry and Trade, it is recorded that in Binh Duong, there are about 430 SMEs operating in 3 sectors: brick, ceramics and food processing. The number of SMEs in Binh Duong ranks the 4th largest among the 10 provinces within LCEE eligible objectives, just behind Hanoi, Vinh Long and Ho Chi Minh.

The Leadership of Industry Promotion Center confirmed: "Energy Efficiency is as important as financial audits, the energy inefficiency is a huge waste. Thus, the Industry Promotion Center has been and will actively co-operated with enterprises to implement the National Target Program on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy, contributing to turning Binh Duong into a prosperous province with sustainable development. "

Binh Duong newspaper