ENERGY
Now Mr Speaker, I turn to Energy.
State of Jamaica
Businesses which undertake energy management and implement energy audits often enjoy annual savings on energy bills of up to 12 per cent, says the head of a local consultancy.
Yvette Batts, managing director of BCI Solutions, said an energy audit is an assessment of the usage at a facility, including an analysis of cost effective efficiency opportunities to reduce usage, bills and greenhouse emissions. She was speaking at the latest Wednesday Morning Seminar hosted by Myers, Fletcher & Gordon (MF&G) and the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC), which joined forces with the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) and BCI in presenting the theme “Reducing Your Energy Costs While Improving Your Business Efficiency“.
Energy Audits are done at three levels: walk through, comprehensive and investment grade. The audit level is defined by the energy user, taking into account specific issues to be addressed, complexity of site, and the total budget available, said Batts.
She advised that energy audits and energy saving opportunities are best implemented in the context of an Energy Management Program (EMP) which should be in place before any audit is undertaken. An EMP should include a management structure with a formally appointed energy manager, the involvement of all staff in the programme, an energy management policy, and a system for monitoring energy bills.
While overall savings from energy saving programme may be rewarding, implementation can be costly.
The DBJ by its mandate to facilitate and promote economic growth has been providing loan financing through its network of approved financial Institutions, for projects in areas such as Tourism, Services and Agriculture among others.
Edison Galbraith, DBJ’s general manager, Loan Origination and Portfolio Management, said the institution provides loan financing for large projects in strategic sectors such as Renewable Energy through co-financing and direct lending. The DBJ’s also promotes and finances investments in energy conservation, energy efficiency and renewable energy technology at a rate of eight per cent to 9.5 per cent for up to 10 years. Additionally, assistance for energy audits is available, with funding to offset $200,000 of the cost of the audit. The institution also plays an active role in promoting energy conservation by facilitating public education, workshops and training. Notably DBJ has partnered with the Inter-American Development Bank to secure US$807,000 funding to promote energy efficiency/conservation in the SME Sector. To date DBJ has approved over $330M in energy loans to 20 projects.
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Energy Audit Explained
July 10, 2012
Yvette Batts
What exactly is an Energy Audit? Why do I need one? How much does it
cost? Unfortunately many think an Energy Audit is another piece of
expensive paperwork required to access low interest energy loans. An
Energy Audit is and can be much more.
An Energy Audit is an assessment of the energy usage at a facility. It
includes an analysis of cost-effective opportunities to reduce energy
usage, energy bills and greenhouse gas emissions. It can actually add
immediate value to an organisation by identifying simple no-cost and low
cost measures for energy conservation (EC) and cost reduction. These
include Energy Management practices, tariffs, operations improvement,
and culture. Our experience is that EC can result in as much as 12%
savings, sometimes more. As such EC measures may provide immediate
payback for the cost of the energy audit.
The Energy Audit can also go on to identify additional energy efficiency
(EE) measures that require investments, such as equipment retrofits,
upgrades, re-tooling and process improvement to further reduce
consumption. Investments can also include renewable energy (RE)
solutions, appropriately sized for the reduced energy footprint
resulting from energy conservation and energy efficiency. The result is
a package of energy saving measures that meet the financial criteria for
investment as specified by the customer and that can form the basis of
an Energy Strategy and Action Plan.
In short an Energy Audit facilitates improved energy productivity,
particularly important in an economic climate where cost control and
competitiveness are essential for survival.
There have been some questions/concerns arising from the local market
about
Businesses which undertake energy management and implement energy audits often enjoy annual savings on energy bills of up to 12 per cent, says the head of a local consultancy.
Yvette Batts, managing director of BCI Solutions, said an energy audit is an assessment of the usage at a facility, including an analysis of cost effective efficiency opportunities to reduce usage, bills and greenhouse emissions. She was speaking at the latest Wednesday Morning Seminar hosted by Myers, Fletcher & Gordon (MF&G) and the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC), which joined forces with the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) and BCI in presenting the theme “Reducing Your Energy Costs While Improving Your Business Efficiency“.
Energy Audits are done at three levels: walk through, comprehensive and investment grade. The audit level is defined by the energy user, taking into account specific issues to be addressed, complexity of site, and the total budget available, said Batts.
She advised that energy audits and energy saving opportunities are best implemented in the context of an Energy Management Program (EMP) which should be in place before any audit is undertaken. An EMP should include a management structure with a formally appointed energy manager, the involvement of all staff in the programme, an energy management policy, and a system for monitoring energy bills.
While overall savings from energy saving programme may be rewarding, implementation can be costly.
The DBJ by its mandate to facilitate and promote economic growth has been providing loan financing through its network of approved financial Institutions, for projects in areas such as Tourism, Services and Agriculture among others.
Edison Galbraith, DBJ’s general manager, Loan Origination and Portfolio Management, said the institution provides loan financing for large projects in strategic sectors such as Renewable Energy through co-financing and direct lending. The DBJ’s also promotes and finances investments in energy conservation, energy efficiency and renewable energy technology at a rate of eight per cent to 9.5 per cent for up to 10 years. Additionally, assistance for energy audits is available, with funding to offset $200,000 of the cost of the audit. The institution also plays an active role in promoting energy conservation by facilitating public education, workshops and training. Notably DBJ has partnered with the Inter-American Development Bank to secure US$807,000 funding to promote energy efficiency/conservation in the SME Sector. To date DBJ has approved over $330M in energy loans to 20 projects.
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Energy Efficiency Project Launched to Assist SMEs
Thursday, 21 June 2012
Written by JIS
The Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ), in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), has launched an energy efficiency project targeted at Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).
The project, called DBJ GreenBiz, is aimed at providing technical and financial assistance in energy efficiency, conservation and renewable energy to SMEs.
Minister of State in the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Hon. Julian Robinson, lauded the programme at its official launch on June 20, at the Mona Visitors
The Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) has ramped up its energy-conservation campaign by launching a new plan to help customers take control of their usage, even as it is granted new powers to go after individuals and businesses engaged in illegally abstracting electricity to the tune of about US$50 million (J$4.43 billion) annually.
President and chief executive officer, JPS, Kelly Tomblin, launched the SmartEnergy programme as an interim conservation measure as the company prepares to invest US$600 million in a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Old Harbour, St Catherine, cognisant that, if goes as planned, it will result in customers paying some 30 per cent less for electricity.
Tomblin initiated the programme against the background of what the JPS said, in a release, was a question posed by customers as to what they should do to reduce their light bills while the plant, scheduled to be completed in late 2014, is constructed.
The JPS CEO said the focus should be on conservation and efficiency.
To that end, the release said, the JPS “is leading by example”, by rolling out the programme at its Ruthven Road, St Andrew, offices where the level of conservation will be measured over time to assess the gains.
“SmartEnergy includes several initiatives aimed at helping customers take control of their usage by making the right choices, from the point of purchasing to how equipment and appliances are used,” said the statement.
Speaking at the launch event recently, Tomblin told participants JPS has a responsibility to guide customers in their energy usage, and should practise the very things it is asking customers to do.
She pointed out that in 2011, an independent evaluation was conducted by the Washington-based Castalia Strategic Advisors on options to bring down energy costs in Jamaica.
The consultants listed energy efficiency among their recommendations, indicating that customers could reduce their bills by up to 16 per cent by increasing the use of more energy-efficient technologies, Tomblin added.
“This is supported by similar research in Barbados and other countries,” the president and CEO said, adding that “JPS has a responsibility to help our customers realise the gains of using energy efficiently”.
The SmartEnergy plan will include an office energy-efficiency programme, an energy audit-certification seminar, stakeholder-education meetings, and an energy management-training programme for business customers.
According to the JPS, the Ruthven Road office will be the pilot for the company’s office energy-efficiency programme, which involves conducting an initial review of usage at that location, and working with the staff to adjust its pattern over time, in order to cut down on consumption.
Separately, the JPS’s head of corporate communications, Winsome Callum, responding to queries from Wednesday Business, indicated that a new back-billing policy approved by the Office of Utilities Regulation regarding, among other things, the illegal abstraction of electricity, will likely affect all categories of customers – residential, small commercial, large commercial and industrial.
The policy will affect customers across the island and allows back-billing for up to six years in some specified cases of irregularities.
She said it would be difficult to say approximately how many customers could be immediately impacted by the new policy, which took effect on June 1, because “this depends on the number of customers audited, and the number found with irregularities”.
Asked to quantify outstanding sums to the JPS as a result of illegally abstracted electricity, irregularities or under-billing, which the company has been trying to recover through back-billing, Callum said: “JPS loses approximately US$50 million per year as a result of illegally abstracted electricity.”
mcpherse.thompson@gleanerjm.com
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20120620/business/business5.html
A major plan has been unveiled aimed at reducing the Government’s massive electricity bill.
Under a 20 million US dollar project supported by the Inter-American Development Bank, IDB, energy saving measures will be implemented at all Government Ministries, agencies and departments.
http://rjrnewsonline.com/business/plan-reduce-government%E2%80%99s-electricity-bill
Hillary Alexander (right), permanent secretary in the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, shares a joke with Richard Brewster (left), project manager of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Programme, and Professor Ishenkumba Kahwa, dean of the Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences at the University of the West Indies, Mona, during the launch of the programme at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston yesterday. – Ian Allen/Photographer
Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Minister Phillip Paulwell has warned that government agencies and ministries that do not cut their energy bills will feel it in their pockets.
“With your current consumption as your benchmark, please be advised that starting today, your energy cost must only go down. If you increase consumption, … you can expect a negative impact on your overall budgetary allocation,” he said, quickly adding that he was speaking with the firm authority of the finance minister.
Paulwell was addressing the launch of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Programme, which is the end product of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Technical Assistance (EECTA) agreement first signed in 2009 between the Government and the Inter-American Development Bank. The programme has a total cost of US$20 million and seeks to reduce energy consumption in the public sector. Paulwell reeled off staggering figures of Jamaica’s energy crisis.
“Some 90 per cent of Jamaica’s energy is supplied by imported petroleum. Next to debt servicing, energy consumes the largest amount of our foreign-exchange earnings,” he said.
Among other data, the EECTA collected analysis of government facilities’ energy consumption and conservation measures. An audit of Jamaica’s energy situation showed the Government used more than 411 gigawatt hours annually, more than 10 per cent of total electricity consumed in Jamaica.
Significant increase
“The total GOJ bill for electricity has moved from about J$560 million in January 2009 to the current figure of nearly J$1.2 billion at February 2012. That’s an increase of more than half a billion dollars or some 108 per cent. This increase is annualised at J$7.2 billion. This … spells crisis,” he said.
He implored heads of agencies, ministries and other public-sector institutions to examine the findings of the audit report and to determine their next step. He noted the Government had access to the electricity bills of every government agency and would be monitoring usage. He challenged ministers and permanent secretaries, especially, to develop and implement an energy-efficiency road map and to set targets for their energy consumption.
“Each year, central government will issue an energy allocation, and just as there is pressure to stay within the Budget, we will apply pressure to have all of the ministries stay within the energy allocation.”
Improving efficiency
Paulwell noted that the programme would specifically deal with replacing incandescent bulbs and fluorescent lighting systems with LED fittings, and improving the insulation and seeding of building envelopes to reduce heat loading and air-conditioning requirements. There will also be the replacement of old air-conditioning systems for more modern, efficient ones.
“(We will also be) implementing a system for monitoring and evaluating to ensure the sustainability of the initiative and to identify and train, within all our ministries, teams of energy wardens … to oversee the gains of the programme and that the gains are achieved.”
Another component of the programme is an education-awareness initiative to sensitise the public and private sectors regarding energy efficiency (EE) and energy conservation (EC) cost and benefits. There will also be workshops and seminars for stakeholders on EE and EC procurement and management. Paulwell also noted that apart from the savings to the country’s energy bill, the programme would also provide jobs.
“This programme will employ energy auditors, engineers, architects, as well as suppliers of air conditioning and energy-efficient fixtures to install over 5,000 air-conditioning units islandwide and over 100,000 lighting fixtures. This is sure to have a ripple effect on the entire economy.”
Recently we were asked to set up one of our energy saving pool pumps to compare against the existing inefficient 1.5 horsepower. Below is the shortened video we created showing the energy comparison of both pumps which is undeniably in favor of our energy efficient pump. Please read the case study which is below the video after watching.
Pump Info