Operating under the General Department of Logistics, the Hong Ha Shipbuilding Company, which specializes in building and repairing means of marine transport, has applied many energy conservation methods. The company has undergone 14 years of development and become a big business of Hai Phong City in the field of shipbuilding with the annual production value of more than 550 billion.

Regarding investment in modern technology, Le Van Thuoc, the company’s deputy director in charge of technical management, said, “In 2010 the company has put into operation a zinc galvanizing line and CO2 (carbon dioxide) tanks, which help reduce energy and manpower consumption. The company’s products therefore have become firmly positioned in the domestic and international markets.”

Utilizing solar energy resources

With support of an audit team, the company has successfully applied many conservation methods, including the ones that require large amounts of investment capital. 

The company has more than 1,000 staff members with 90 percent being technical workers doing mostly outdoor jobs. Therefore the demand for drinking water and hot water at the company is very high. The leadership of the company said that in 2009 the company spent more than VND36 million to boil water using coal as the main kind of fuel.

The company uses solar energy for water heating and lighting purposes. Solar energy cannot be used to boil water but it can be used to warm up water. The company still has to use coal to boil water but fuel consumption has been reduced considerably because water is warmed up with solar energy before it is boiled. This solution allows the company to save an estimated more than 16,000 tonnes of coal or about VND21 million each year. This solution requires an investment sum of VND150 million and it will take the company seven years to recover the invested amount of money.

Currently, the company has 100 lamp posts using high-voltage lamps (250W). To save electricity, the company will build solar charged lamp posts, which will allow it to save more than 91,000 kWh of electricity or about VND77 million each year.

Renovation efforts

Apart from the above two solutions, the Hong Ha Shipbuilding Company has taken some technical solutions to reduce energy consumption. It has been dynamic in modernizing technology to improve the competitiveness of products.

The company has bought 700-tonne hydraulic presses and installed inverters into 20-tonne cranes. This solution allows the company to save 25 percent of the amount of electricity that is required to operate the cranes. The company has also invested several billion dong in installing corrugated iron treatment lines, air compressors and new power systems in order to minimize power losses. To ensure effective energy conservation, the company has established an energy management team. This team is responsible for carrying out regular examinations to ensure that all equipment systems at the company operate effectively in order to minimize losses of energy such as electricity, coal, diesel oil (DO), and industrial gas. With these efforts, the company can save hundreds of millions of dong each year.

The company has invested nearly VND200 million in installing inverters into the lifting engines of rolling cranes. It is estimated that this solution allows the company to save about VND60 million or 70,000kWh of electricity each year. The Hong Ha Shipbuilding Company uses a large number of cranes, most of which are old that consume too much electricity. The installation of inverters into the lifting engines of cranes to regulate the speed of crane movements allows the company to minimize power losses during the operation process.

Regarding lighting systems, previously, the company used mostly lamps of low lighting efficiency. Lighting systems do not consume too much electricity but also have the potential for energy conservation.

The audit team has proposed some solutions to improve the lighting efficiency, for example replacing 40W tube lamps with T5-28W lamps; replacing high-voltage lamps (100W) lamps with power saving compact lamps (45W); replacing high-voltage lamps (250W) with sodium lamps (150W). These solutions can help the company save about VND28 million each year. Aware of the good effects of these solutions, the company has replaced all high-voltage lamps with power saving lamps and installed corrugated iron sheets to utilize sunlight. As a result of these efforts, the company can save 100,000kWh of electricity or more than VND90 million each year.

The aforementioned solutions not only allow the Hong Ha Shipbuilding Company to save hundreds of millions of dong every year but also reflect its high sense of responsibility in the field of energy conservation. The company considers energy conservation a long-term strategy that helps it strengthen its position and enhance its competitiveness on the market.

By Kieu Nga