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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
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