Spring Grove wins Sustainable Energy Award
November 2007
L-R Brid Horan, Executive Director ESB Customer Supply and Group Services, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Eamon Ryan T.D. , Noel McDonnell Spring Grove Services (millfield) and David Taylor CEO, Sustainable Energy Ireland).
The Sustainable Energy Awards 2007 Winners.
Category A: Energy Efficiency project in a Small and Medium Enterprise.
Spring Grove Services, Millfield
Sustainable Energy Ireland announced the winners of the Sustainable Energy Awards 2007 at a gala event
in Dublin's Crown Plaza Hotel. Spring Grove Services (Millfield), Inchydoney
Lodge & Spa, Diageo and Pfizer Ireland Pharmaceuticals were among the eight winners
of last night's Awards which included entries from all sizes of organisations
in both the Republic and Northern Ireland.
The Awards, now in their eleventh
year are organised by SEI and sponsored by ESB Customer Supply.
The Awards are intended to encourage, recognise and reward excellence in energy
management in the industrial, commercial and public sectors.
In response to an increasing level of interest from smaller companies, a new award category, "Energy Efficiency Project in a Small and Medium Enterprise" was included for the first time this year. This new category recorded the highest number of nominations across all of the categories.
Companies participating in the Awards recorded average energy savings of 7%, equating to overall cost savings of €23 million. The equivalent of 211,000 tonnes of CO2 have also been removed from the atmosphere, which is similar to taking 77,000 new cars off Irish roads.
Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Mr Eamon Ryan T.D., who was guest of honour at the event and presented the winners with their Awards said: "It is very encouraging to see such vigour and enthusiasm among the organisations participating in these awards. I'm aware that many of these organisations have entered in the past and have long established programmes in place in the area of energy efficiency. However it is the smaller companies, the SME's, which also account for a proportion of Ireland's CO2 output, that I am particularly encouraged to see represented so well in these awards. Energy management practices are not just the preserve of large industry with dedicated resources and teams but a commercial imperative for enterprises of all shapes and sizes".
Category A Winner, Spring Grove Services, Linen Laundry Centre, Millfield, Cork Judging Comments "Spring Grove has engaged in an energy efficiency programme to improve competitiveness by transforming the company to a high volume, low energy consumer. This state of the art laundry measures all energy input against product-throughput, which allows energy efficiency projects to be measured and verified. Its most recent project, a flash steam heat recovery system, resulted in a significant reduction in their thermal energy index of kWh per kg of laundry throughput".
Project Description Spring Grove Linen Laundry Centre Millfield, is an industrial laundry which processes a range and quality of products for customers nationwide. Spring Grove Services is Ireland's Leading workwear and linen rental supplier, providing a wide range of reusable hygiene products.
In response to competitiveness of the laundry business and increasing energy costs, Spring Grove strives for efficiency wherever possible. Natural gas is used to produce thermal energy for steam generation and direct gas firing. Steam is used for both water heating by direct steam injection and indirect heating. This produces condensate at high pressure, which in turn produces approximately 15% flash steam which was lost through the boiler feed tank vent pipe. This flash steam also caused a number of operational problems such as constant vibrations in the boiler feed tank and a constant flume of steam coming from the tank vents.
To overcome this problem and to improve the thermal efficiency of the steam generation system,
a flash steam recovery system was installed.
This resulted in the following benefits
1. Reduced energy consumption.
2. A more stable boiler feed water temperature.
3. Eliminating the flash steam from the boiler feed tank
4. Reduced chemical dosing of the boiler feed tank.
An online energy management system measures gas, electricity & water consumption every 15 minutes and product loading from washing machines load cells. This allows for weekly reporting on energy usage versus production output. Energy figures for 2005 compared to 2006, show a reduction in energy consumption of 17.7% for gas, arising from the flash steam capital investments and a further 8.7% from other improvements in the production operation, during a period when production volume increased by 6.8%.
Inchydoney Lodge & Spa which secures 37% of its energy from a renewable resource won the Award for Renewable Energy Project. The hotel developed a combination system of solar panels, wood pellet boiler and heat recovery system which will reduce the hotel's annual fuel bill by over €50,000 and save 424 tonnes of C02 from going into the atmosphere annually.
In 2006 energy consumption decreased by 8.7% despite an increase in the hotels activity. Martin Corkery, Pfizer Ireland Pharmaceuticals, Energy Team Leader, based in Loughbeg was awarded with the prestigious title of Energy Manager of the Year.
The judges acknowledged Mr Corkery's long and distinguished track record in energy management, including his role in Pfizer's recent certification to IS 393, the Irish Energy Management Standard.
In 2006 eleven major energy saving projects were undertaken at Pfizer Loughbeg under Martin's supervision. These and other projects contributing to the achievement of IS393 resulted in a CO2 reduction of 2,254 tonnes for the site. Diageo, St James Gate Brewery, Dublin received the award for Coordinated Energy Management Programme for its extensive energy management programme undertaken during a period which also saw significant increases in production at the plant.
Major efficiency gains were delivered, with the plant achieving cost savings in excess of €2 million and Carbon dioxide emission savings of over 80,000 tonnes. David Taylor, Chief Executive, SEI said: "These Awards are an important reminder of the achievements of business in Ireland at a time when energy and climate change are high on the political agenda across Europe. We now have tangible evidence that the level of savings achieved by companies involved in our large industry programmes, such as LIEN and IS393 are also possible in their smaller counterparts. This year SEI will have worked with almost 1000 businesses of all sizes and in all sectors, all striving to reduce energy costs and in so doing enhance their competitiveness and the growth prospects of the economy".
Brid Horan, Executive Director of ESB, said: "Energy efficiency is now a crucial aspect of the energy debate. There is an onus on all suppliers to actively promote an energy-saving culture". Continuing, she added "The Sustainable Energy Awards have never been more important. They stimulate and encourage energy savings initiatives that can become part and parcel of every business strategy".
The Sustainable Energy Awards 2007 Winners are:
Category A: Energy Efficiency project in a Small and Medium Enterprise, Spring
Grove Services, Millfield.