Efficiency managers for Singapore firms that guzzle energy

Straits Times 9 Mar 10;

BY 2013, Singapore will make energy- hungry companies monitor usage, appoint energy managers and draw up plans to improve efficiency.

The requirements were announced by Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim yesterday along with other steps to improve efficiency. They will apply to firms that consume more than 15 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of energy a year - enough to power 3,000 to 4,000 HDB four-room flats for the same period. Some 130 firms fall into this category.

The new energy-efficiency rule will be contained in a proposed Energy Conservation Act, which will spell out energy management requirements for industry and other sectors.

While energy labelling and standards currently exist or will soon come into force for cars, buildings and appliances, the new legislation - to be introduced later and targeted to take effect in 2013 - will be among the first energy-efficiency legislation to cut across all sectors here.

Firms like GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), which uses about 65 GWh a year, will be subject to the new rules.

Its engineering services director Lim Hock Heng said the first improvements in energy efficiency would be easy, but subsequent improvements would cost more.

Said Mr Lim in an e-mail: 'To sustain continuous reduction in energy usage, we foresee that significant capital outlay will be required.' GSK's current energy- saving measures include using solar panels on its buildings in Jurong.

To help firms build the necessary capabilities, the National Environment Agency (NEA) will introduce a new partnership scheme in April, on top of existing energy-efficiency grants and schemes.

Under the scheme, NEA will help firms learn how to manage their energy use, and get them to share energy-management knowledge with each other.

The public sector will also play its part in saving energy. Dr Yaacob told the House: 'From Fiscal Year 2011, all ministries will set energy-efficiency targets.'

GRACE CHUA


Large companies have to put in energy management plans by 2013 under new law
Hoe Yeen Nie, Channel NewsAsia 8 Mar 10;

SINGAPORE: From 2013, a new law will require large industrial energy users to regularly review their energy usage levels.

The Environment Ministry will introduce this Energy Conservation Act, as part of efforts to bring Singapore's 2005 energy usage levels down by 35 per cent by 2030. This was the target laid out by 2009's Sustainable Blueprint.

The cooling of water for GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK) manufacturing processes used to take up 20 percent of the company's energy bill.

But since 2004, the switch to hydrocarbon refrigerants and the addition of a mist-cooling system have helped to save the company over S$1 million on utilities a year.

Besides these, GSK also uses solar panels on the rooftops of its warehouses to generate electricity.

GSK said that the push to go green came in 2002, following plans to boost production by 40 per cent.

Lim Hock Heng, director of Engineering Services, GlaxoSmithKline, said: "If we do nothing, it means your operating expenditure would be increased by the equivalent amount. And that adds cost into our products. So by keeping energy usage constant, basically you indirectly increase your profits and increase your productivities."

Currently, standards of energy management vary widely across the different industries and the government feels that it's time to impose some minimal standards.

So from 2013, the new Energy Conservation Act will require large users to appoint a trained energy manager. Companies will also have to submit energy improvement plans as well as to make periodic reports to the National Environment Agency.

According to the NEA, large energy users are defined as those that use 15 GWh of energy a year. There are about 130 companies that fall within this category.

In Parliament, the Environment Minister said the initial focus is to help the 130 affected companies to get ready for the new law.

And from April, they can get help from the NEA to train their energy management teams.

The Energy Efficiency National Partnership, first announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong last November, will also create opportunities for the sharing of best practices, and recognise efforts through an awards scheme.

Environment and Water Resources Minister Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, said: "Studies indicate that a company can expect to reduce energy consumption by at least 10 to 15 per cent with many companies able to achieve larger reductions.

"We will also be reviewing our incentive schemes and exploring long term energy efficiency financing options to cater to the needs of companies."

The ministry is still consulting with industry, including on possible penalties.

GlaxoSmithKline said the funding will come in handy as the return on investment on energy projects are typically low.

On its own, it has set up a fund to support its energy efficiency projects.

Mr Lim added: "They range from three years payback up to seven years payback. Imagine that if you have limited resources, to get the capital funding to support and implement these projects, you'll be competing with other projects as well." - CNA/vm

Energy guzzlers must appoint a manager
Esther Ng, Today Online 9 Mar 10;

SINGAPORE - The Copenhagen Conference on climate change may not have produced legally binding targets on carbon emission, but the prospect of Singapore having to adopt an international agreement at some point in the near future was not lost on some Members of Parliament (MPs).

"The earlier we can get our industry to adapt, the more we can mitigate the changes that will be upon us," urged MP for West Coast GRC Cedric Foo in Parliament yesterday.

Mr Foo was among MPs like Ms Ellen Lee, Ms Fatimah Lateef and Mr Seah Kian Peng who wanted to know how such targets can be achieved.

Responding during the debate on his ministry's budget, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) Yaacob Ibrahim announced that from 2013, large energy users - defined as those that use 15 GWh of energy a year - will have to regularly review their energy usage levels.

Under a new Energy Conservation Act, they'll have to appoint an energy manager, monitor and report energy use to the National Environment Agency (NEA), and develop and submit energy efficiency improvement plans to the NEA when the Act kicks in.

There are about 130 companies in this category, among them pharmaceuticals, oil refineries, wafer fabs and petrochemical companies.

"The Act allows for a co-ordinated approach to standards-setting for energy efficiency across all sectors," said Dr Yaacob.

NEA will introduce the Energy Efficiency National Partnership next month to help companies build up the necessary capabilities before the mandatory energy management practices come into effect.

This will help Singapore achieve its target by 2030 of an improvement in energy efficiency by 35 per cent from the level of 2005.

Dr Yaacob noted that industrial facilities in Japan are required to adopt energy management practices and energy-intensive firms in Denmark have to pay higher energy taxes unless they have energy management systems in place.

In Singapore, some companies like Merck Sharp and Dohme have set a target of reducing energy use by 7 per cent this year as part of its green plans. "Such practices ought to be the norm," said Dr Yaacob.


New measures to reduce noise and save energy
JOyce Hooi, Business Times 9 Mar 10;

THE National Environment Agency (NEA) will soon start prohibiting construction activities from 10pm on the night before a Sunday or a public holiday to 10am on the day itself. This new prohibition will apply to construction sites within 150 metres of residential areas and noise-sensitive developments that start work from Sept 1 this year.

'We will implement the changes progressively to give the construction industry sufficient time to adjust,' said Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, while announcing the ministry's latest measures in Parliament yesterday. 'NEA will extend this prohibition to the rest of the day on Sundays and public holidays for sites starting work from Sept 1, 2011,' Dr Yaacob added.

According to the minister, NEA received 14,000 and 12,000 complaints about construction noise in 2008 and 2009 respectively, compared to 9,000 and 6,000 such complaints in 2007 and 2006 respectively.

This change in policy will create a need for construction firms to rejig their work schedules, CSC Holdings Ltd CEO See Yen Tarn noted.

'There are certain activities that have to be carried out continuously, one process after another. You cannot excavate something and then let it sit there for 24 hours, for example,' said Mr See.

Tan Wey Pin, executive director of Lum Chang Building Contractors, also noted that almost all construction sites in Singapore will be situated within 150 metres of a residential area. Currently, his firm's workers end work any time between 7pm and midnight on Saturday and work from 8am to 5pm on Sunday, excluding overtime.

NEA will also tighten noise standards for new and in-use vehicles, from Oct 1, 2010 and April 1, 2011, respectively. The new-vehicle standards will be based on those currently used in Japan and the European Union.

On the industrial front, there will be a mandatory requirement for companies in the industry sector using more than 15 gigawatt- hours of energy each year to appoint an energy manager that will monitor and report energy use to NEA from 2013, as part of the Energy Conservation Act that will come into force in the same year.

'NEA will introduce the Energy Efficiency National Partnership, or EENP, in April to help companies build up the necessary capabilities before the mandatory energy management practices come into effect,' said Dr Yaacob.

Several companies that fall in this category appear to be ahead of the curve.

'We do more than an energy manager's job. We have monitored the consumption of energy from Day 1,' said CV Jagadish, CEO of Systems on Silicon Manufacturing Co Pte Ltd. This year, the company aims to reduce energy usage by almost 4 million kilowatt-hours.

STMicroelectronics will also have no trouble complying with the requirement. 'Our site electrical manager is our resident Energy Conservation Champion, who constantly drives energy reduction opportunities at our wafer fab,' said Renato Sirtori, group vice-president and chief financial officer of Asia STMicroelectronics.