By 2030, some utilities could very well be left behind in the new energy economy. 40% of utilities predict ‘Complete Transformation’ by 2030. An important finding from the PwC survey reported in Green tech Media is that it’s not just renewables, it’s also the first fuel — that is, energy efficiency — that is driving investment for many utilities, particularly in Asia. Look out for more by way of clean energy innovations and advances at the Singapore International Energy Week which starts 28 October and you’ll also hear what the International Energy centre is up to by way of spreading the word in Singapore on energy literary and the low carbon future. Read More

Can the world wait that long for the utility of the future?

Katherine Tweed in Green Tech Media  (8 October  2013):

The words “utility” and “transformational” are rarely, if ever, tossed together in the same sentence. Yet utilities say they are expecting an overhaul of their business in the coming decades, and many realize such a metamorphosis is essential to survival.

The 13th annual global survey of utility executives from consulting firm PwC found that 94 percent of participants said the utility business model would undergo important changes or a complete transformation between now and 2030.

If that timeframe seems a little lengthy compared to the evolution of other sectors, it is. But in utility years, it’s practically the speed of light. Even more interesting is utilities’ increasing acknowledgement that they need to change.

The changing dynamics, especially the move to decentralized generation and the need for two-way power flows to accommodate assets at the grid’s edge, have been happening for some time. What is interesting is that the region with the highest expectation of transformation is not Europe with its aggressive renewable goals, but rather Asia, where nearly 70 percent of participants see transformation coming.

Many of those surveyed don’t see a world that ditches centralized generation all together, but rather a mix of distributed energy resources and more centralized plants. But it doesn’t take a complete overhaul of the generation mix to cause havoc for utilities.

A free report that was just released by GTM Research looks at the issues at the grid edge that are driving the changes happening in the electric utility market. With enough rooftop PV on a distribution circuit or a large number of wind farms on a single feeder, utilities have to find ways to balance the intermittent renewable power while still using as much of it as possible.

An important finding from the PwC survey is that it’s not just renewables, it’s also the first fuel — that is, energy efficiency — that is driving investment for many utilities, particularly in Asia.

No matter what the drivers are, experts across the industry agree that the time is now for investment in new systems and regulatory overhaul. By 2030, some utilities could very well be left behind in the new energy economy.

“Technology changes, particularly in IT, and the potential that arises from smart grids and demand-side management is going to change the business model in the power utilities sector,” asserted Jeroen van Hoof, assurance leader at PwC Power & Utilities. “The big question is whether existing players are capable of driving that change, or whether the momentum will come from other entrants. If it’s the latter, the role of existing utilities could shift to the low-margin business of providing backup capacity.”

Source: www.greentechmedia.com/

The Rocky Mountain Institute, reflecting on the latest IPCC report, says necessary reduction in emissions “is still possible if we act now, but it will take serious commitment—commitment to energy efficiency, to the renewable energy sector, to our forests and agricultural lands, and to advanced information technology”. Greening the supply chain, getting off the over-consumption bandwagon and transforming the way we produce goods will go a long way towards emissions reductions too, is the message Ken Hickson will be taking to the 2013 Green Summit in Taipei on 29 October  with the theme The Rise of the Green Economy2013 and the subsequent The 4th Taiwan International Green Industry Show (​TIGIS 2013) at Taipei World Trade Center. Read More

The Rise of the Green Economy, Taipei, Taiwan, 29 October 2013

Ken Hickson is one of the speakers at the 2013 Green Summit in Taipei on 29 October with the theme The Rise of the Green Economy. For more information go to: http://www.gvm.com.tw/event/201309green/201309green.html

It will be followed by the The 4th Taiwan International Green Industry Show (​TIGIS 2013), which  will prove a key moment that joined the international green community that turned up in record numbers for incredible prospects. Third edition of TiGiS (TIGIS 2012) let 180 companies use 321 booths — a 20% growth in exhibitors and 19% increase in scale.

TiGiS has attracted 6,402 professional buyers who came from 53 different counties who generated a projected US$28 million in business. Important buyers include trade missions from China, the Province of Ontario (Canada), Energa Obrot, an affiliate under the Energa umbrella (Poland’s top power supplier), and other big names such as KEPCO (Korea), SCHOTT SOLAR (Germany), Current Service, Tomoe Shokai (Japan), Senoz, Q-CELLS(Turkey), and Dalle Energy(Indonesia).

GREEN ENERGY

Taipei Times reported earlier this year that Taiwan’s green energy sector production value of equipment, components and parts expanded in the first quarter of the year on the back of the improving solar energy industry.

Green energy production value totaled NT$25.43 billion (US$849.11 million) last quarter, up 24.8 percent from the previous quarter. The figure contracted 8 percent from a year ago due to a high baseline, the researcher said.

Analysts attributed the upward trend to stabilizing prices of solar energy products and the withdrawal from the local market of major European solar energy companies.

The production value of Taiwan’s solar energy products for the first three months of the year jumped 27.5 percent quarter-on-quarter to NT$22.78 billion, the report said.

Solar energy industry production value of equipment, components and parts accounted for nearly 90 percent of the total green energy sector in the first quarter, with a 7.4 percent share for wind energy and 3 percent for biofuels.

First-quarter production value of the country’s wind energy and biofuels reached NT$1.89 billion and NT$760 million, up 4.4 percent and 8.6 percent respectively, the report said.

The report forecast that Taiwan’s green energy sector total production value of equipment, components and parts will expand 2.1 percent year-on-year to NT$106.98 billion, with those in the solar energy, wind energy and biofuel industries rising 1.5 percent, 11.3 percent and 0.1 percent respectively.

Source: www.taipeitimes.com/

Jules Kortenhorst, CEO of the Rocky Mountain Insititute (30 September 2013):

Climate Change—The Time for Action is Now

Let me start this blog by quoting—verbatim—several key conclusions from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Climate Change 2013, also known as the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report (AR5):

Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and since the 1950s, many of the observed changes are unprecedented over decades to millennia… The atmosphere and the ocean have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished, sea level has risen, and the concentrations of greenhouse gases have increased… Each of the last three decades has been successively warmer at the Earth’s surface than any preceding decade since 1850… Changes in many extreme weather and climate events have been observed since about 1950… It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century…

The IPCC does not mince words. And despite a frontal assault by climate skeptics, attempting to use the scientific nuances of the report to sow doubt, the conclusions stand as a rock. Some media outlets are emphasizing the small shifts in scientific understanding or the recent reduction in the rate of warming of the atmosphere (as opposed to oceans), leaving casual readers confused if indeed this is the most definitive assessment of the risks of human-caused warming. It is! The most rigorous scientific peer review process ever assembled by humankind is leaving no more room for doubt.

With a 95 percent certainty of the main conclusion that mankind’s emissions are the leading cause for continued climate change, the debate around the science is now truly settled. Yes of course, climate models will be fine-tuned further, and more research will shed light on many important aspects of our earth’s climate system. But at this point there is no more need for continued debate over the causes. We are now more certain than ever that burning fossil fuels and deforestation are responsible for the warming of the planet and its oceans, leading to the melting of glaciers, the retreat of arctic sea ice, the rise in sea levels, and the increased occurrence of extreme weather events.

It is strange how our assessment of risk, when it comes to the only planet we have to live on, seems out of kilter with the perception of other risks. If such dire warnings were conveyed to anyone with regards to one’s health, they would rush to seek treatment overnight. If a Wall Street trader was so warned with regards to his portfolio exposure, he would rush back to the office to liquidate his position. And if told we were facing such risk in an upcoming flight, we would no doubt decline to board the plane in question. However, it seems too difficult to take the challenging yet clear steps needed to change course on greenhouse gas emissions.

Inaction on climate change has calamitous costs—economical, social, and environmental. The IPCC report states: “Continued emissions of greenhouse gases will cause further warming and changes in all components in the climate system. Limiting climate change will require substantial and sustained reductions of greenhouse gas emissions.” More specifically, the IPCC for the first time has calculated a limit of the additional carbon that can be emitted if warming is to be limited to 2 degrees Celsius. Such a reduction in emissions is still possible if we act now, but it will take serious commitment—commitment to energy efficiency, to the renewable energy sector, to our forests and agricultural lands, and to advanced information technology.

Organizations such as RMI that are working to advance market-based solutions can have great impact. RMI’s Reinventing Fire: Bold Business Solutions for the New Energy Era provides a roadmap describing how the United States can cut fossil carbon emissions by 82 to 86 percent by 2050, at a cost $5 trillion less than maintaining a business-as-usual scenario, stabilizing energy prices, and making the U.S. grid highly resilient. Market-based solutions empower anyone, including businesses, to act. With a roadmap such as that in Reinventing Fire, we can—and must—start to act today.

Source: www.blog.rmi.org/

More companies are seeing the energy saving benefits of a comprehensive energy management system, with some even going on to meet the requirements for the ISO 50001 Energy Management Certification. Amongst them is STMicroelectronics, whose all six of its silicon wafer manufacturing factories are ISO 50001 certified. This has led to an energy saving of 14 GWh, equivalent to about $2 million, in the 2013-2014 timeframe. Read more

ISO 50001 Energy-Management Certification Saves Tech Company $2M Per Year

By Linda Hardesty in Energy Manager Today (3 October 2013):

STMicroelectronics says that all six of its factories where it manufactures silicon wafers have achieved certification to the latest ISO 50001 energy-management standard.

The certification process involved developing tools to systematically measure the energy consumption of each piece of equipment, including buildings and chiller and compressed dry-air equipment, and to analyze the sites’ overall energy usage.

A common platform, which includes a documentation database, reporting tools and processes, has been developed and shared internally to establish and promote best practices.

ST estimates that the certification process will contribute to saving 14 GWh of energy and $2 million in the 2013-2014 timeframe.

ST’s Agrate site in Italy was the first to achieve the ISO 50001 certification, followed by Catania in Italy and ST’s other front-end sites in France (Crolles, Rousset, Tours) and Singapore (Ang Mo Kio). Each manufacturing site is committed to implementing energy-performance indicators to both monitor and optimize its consumption of electricity and natural gas and explore all opportunities to minimize the amount of energy used, reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Because STMicroelectronics develops products and technologies to enable low energy consumption for the end user, executive management felt it was complementary for its manufacturing sites producing those products to be ISO 50001-certified.

Superseding previous national and regional standards, ISO 50001, introduced in June 2011, is based on the four-step cycle (plan-do-check-act) to implement change and continuous improvement that is the basis of ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and other established management standards.

Source: www.energymanagertoday.com/

In an unusual  Last Word we take the step this issue to focus on energy efficiency and here we cover the first day of the National Energy Efficiency Conference in Singapore and feature four outstanding leaders in the business of managing energy. Read More

Singapore, 9 October 2013 – 10 companies, six public agencies and two individuals were recognised earlier today for their commitment to and achievements in energy efficiency at the Energy Efficiency National Partnership (EENP) Awards 2013 – the highest number of award recipients recorded since the inaugural launch of EENP Awards in 2011. (Refer to Annex A for information on the various EENP Awards)

2 The distinguished award recipients received the EENP Awards 2013 from Guest-of-Honour Ms Grace Fu, Minister, Prime Minister’s Office, Second Minister for the Environment and Water Resources and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs, at the opening of the National Energy Efficiency Conference (NEEC) 2013 on 9 October 2013. The winners this year come from a wide range of industries, including wafer fabrication, food manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and energy transformation, and have all achieved significant energy savings by investing in energy efficiency and management.

3 “Over the years, Singapore-based companies are increasingly recognising the need to manage their energy costs just as they manage their manpower and other operating costs. The increase in the number of EENP Awards recipients this year reflects companies’ efforts in achieving good energy management and better energy efficiency. We hope that participants in NEEC 2013 will gain from the presentations and discussions on energy management solutions and best practices, which will benefit their organisations”, said Mr Ronnie Tay, Chief Executive of the National Environment Agency (NEA).

4 Organised by the National Environment Agency (NEA), the Economic Development Board and the Energy Market Authority, the EENP Awards aim to foster a culture of sustained energy efficiency improvements in the industry and public sectors. The three award categories are: (1) Excellence in Energy Management, (2) Best Practices and (3) Outstanding Managers of the Year. Selected public agencies are also recognised at the ceremony and conferred with Commendation for Best Energy Efficiency Practices in the Public Sector.

5 Among the 18 recipients are Asia Pacific Breweries (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Eastman Chemical Singapore Pte Ltd, GLOBALFOUNDRIES Singapore Pte Ltd and Nestlé Singapore Pte Ltd. (Refer to Annex B for the full list of winners and synopses of their achievement)

National Energy Efficiency Conference (NEEC) 2013

6 Running in its third year, the conference theme is on “Sustaining the Energy Efficiency Drive” and will bring together over 30 renowned energy efficiency experts and industry energy professionals to share best practices, case studies, technologies and standards on energy efficiency and energy management. (For the full list of speakers and moderators, visit http://www.neec2013.sg/speakers_and_moderators.jsp)

NEA Signs Memorandum of Understanding with Institution of Engineers, Singapore

7 The NEEC 2013 opening ceremony also witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between NEA and the Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES). This partnership will see NEA and IES partnering to form and co-chair the Singapore Certified Energy Manager Steering Committee (SCEM-SC), in a move to effectively administer the various aspects of training and qualification of the Singapore Certified Energy Manager (SCEM). The SCEM-SC comprises members of the public sector, such as the Economic Development Board and the Building & Construction Authority, non-governmental organisations such as Singapore Manufacturing Federation, Singapore Chemical Industrial Council, Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore, the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University.

8 Professor Chou Siaw Kiang, IES’ President said of the partnership: “As NEA continues its drive towards greater energy efficiency in Singapore, it is important to develop a pool of trained energy managers who can support the government’s efforts. We are pleased to have the opportunity to partner NEA on this matter and help install a robust training and certification framework. This will help ensure that energy managers are equipped with the professional knowhow required to undertake statutory obligations under the Energy Conservation Act and energy efficiency innovations in their companies.”

9 Mandatory energy management requirements under the Energy Conservation Act (ECA) came into force on 22 April 2013. Under the ECA, registered corporations[1] must appoint at least one energy manager from among its employees who holds an SCEM (professional level) certificate by 1 April 2014.

10 The NEEC will be held from 9 to 10 October 2013 and about 300 participants are expected to attend.

Energy Efficiency National Partnership Award 2013 Recipients

Award Recipients in the Category of “Excellence in Energy Management”

This award recognises companies that have demonstrated a high level of commitment to excellence in energy management. The four award recipients under this category are:

 Asia Pacific Breweries (Singapore) Pte Ltd

 Eastman Chemical Singapore Pte Ltd

 GLOBALFOUNDRIES Singapore Pte Ltd

 Nestlé Singapore Pte Ltd (Jurong Factory)

1. Award Category: Excellence in Energy Management This recognises companies that have demonstrated their commitment to excellence in energy management.

Asia Pacific Breweries (Singapore) Pte Ltd

In 2002, Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) Limited and its breweries embarked on an energy efficiency programme, “Aware of Energy”, which aims to reduce specific energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. To establish APB Singapore as a “Green Brewer”, a target was set for 2014 to reduce thermal energy and electricity by 13%. Current initiatives ensure continuous and thorough process optimisation and waste reduction. Some of the training capabilities APB has implemented include: participation in the Sustainability Academy where employees can learn more about “Brewing a Better Future”, dedication of a pool of energy champions to drive energy saving initiatives and participation in the regional Energy Champion Workshop to build new knowledge and promote sharing.

APB’s “Energy Saving Programme” (ESP) was launched in 2009, and three objectives were set. These objectives are achieved through ongoing collection and exchanges of Good Practices, internal and external bench-marking and implementations of improvements driven by TPM (Total Production Management) deployment. In all, this is part of APB’s mission towards achieving excellent energy management.

Eastman Chemical Singapore Pte Ltd

Eastman Chemical has an energy policy implemented which continuously improves energy efficiency and minimise overall energy impact while contributing to regulatory compliance. Eastman Chemical also has short-term to medium-term goals for energy saving in place. In addition, Eastman Chemical has several Training & Capability Building implementations, including an Energy Management and Conservation (ENMCON) energy team, comprising members from different departments to support the overall management of energy in the business. Eastman has also developed a strong energy efficiency culture among its employees through various initiatives such as organising energy efficiency awareness training for all employees and encouraging employees to make a pledge to make a small change in the workplace or at home to save energy. Evidence of the strong EE culture in Eastman can be seen from the high participation rate among Eastman employees for the energy pledge.

Since the start of operations 15 years ago, Eastman Chemical has embarked on several energy efficiency (EE) improvement projects to achieve sustained energy performance. These EE Improvement Projects are consistently implemented to help reduce the overall energy-to-product ratio.

GLOBALFOUNDRIES Singapore Pte Ltd

GLOBALFOUNDRIES seeks to continuously improve the energy efficiency of itsmanufacturing operations. This process is driven by a cross-functional energy management team which focuses on improving loads optimisation and converting low energy efficiency to high energy efficiency system across all fabs in Singapore. Implemented in 2010, the team’s goal is to achieve a 15% energy reduction across GLOBALFOUNDRIES in Singapore by 2013.

Regarding longer-term training and capability building, GLOBALFOUNDRIES has engaged a consultant to conduct workshops on energy efficiency improvement and this is open to all energy management team members. In addition there is a high level of employee engagement to increase the level of EE awareness in the company. For example, EE achievements are shared with all employees through the company newsletter. Further, they have also implemented several key energy improvement projects and savings such as the retrofitting of conventional lighting to LED and the optimisation of facilities infrastructure system to reduce utilities supply to production tools and processes.

Nestlé Singapore Pte Ltd

The energy policy at Nestlé is to continuously improve environmental efficiency. Nestlé aims to use the most efficient technologies and apply best practices to further optimise energy use, and control and eliminate emissions. Although Nestlé’s target is to achieve energy savings of 2% year-on-year, they have been consistently achieving energy savings of more than 5% for the past 3 years. To create an energy saving culture, the Nestlé Jurong factory designed and implemented a 10 point-plan for education, training and capability building. In addition they have various energy saving projects and an Energy Task Force (ETF), who is responsible for identifying and implementing energy saving projects, as well as managing and sustaining energy savings in the company to achieve and exceed their target.

The Malt extract plant at Nestlé Jurong factory is the best-in-class in terms of energy usage (i.e. lowest in production cost and energy consumption). The Nestlé Jurong factory is also the best performer among the Singapore and Malaysia factories, in terms of energy saving projects.

Source: www.nea.gov.sg