PCS takes innovative approach to energy efficiency

PETROCHEMICAL Corporation of Singapore (Private) Limited (PCS) is another winner in the Best Practice (Honourable Mention) EENP Awards Category this year. Its energy efficiency improvement project used an innovative approach to improve waste heat boiler thermal efficiency.

"We are truly humbled to receive this award. It continues to recognise the teamwork in PCS's energy conservations efforts in delivering sustainable energy efficiency performance over the years," Francis Tan, energy manager, tells BT.

The company did energy performance improvement to maintain its position in the 1st quartile in the worldwide benchmarking study among similar plants. It also did visible demonstration of management to provide resources on identification of areas and opportunities in energy efficiency improvement projects.

At the same time awareness of energy savings was created in the organisation to continue to adopt a teamwork approach to develop and implement energy efficiency projects safely.

"There is awareness across the organisation that energy efficiency sustenance is an on-going team effort hence employees are encouraged to come together to make suggestions such as to improve operational efficiencies," says Tan.

"One such platform is PEPS (PCS Employees Participation Scheme). When such suggestions are further developed and implemented, the results are shared across functions to reap the full benefits of such similar suggestions for implementation."

Tan says that energy efficiency is sometimes known as another pillar of "energy source".

"There is a finite supply of fossil fuel. By using less input to produce the same amount of output, it is viewed as an energy source because it preserves the resource base. One can gain competitive advantage by being more resource efficient in energy resulting in cost savings for higher profits.

"When resources are more efficiently utilised, companies could build more resilience, hence, there could be some positive effect on energy security especially in times of uncertainty.

"In the absence of immediate alternatives, improving energy efficiency by using less energy to produce the same amount of output is one of the most cost-effective ways for reducing GHG emission in the midst of global climate change," he says.

The petrochemical industry is an energy intensive industry. The energy is used in the manufacturing processes to deliver useful products for the wide spectrum of products to improve the quality of human lives. At this stage there is no alternative low energy process.

"Hence, an energy efficient plant would improve our competitiveness and market share of our products. One of the tangible benefits of being energy efficient is monetary savings through reduction in our energy costs.

"Another intrinsic value is where all employees feel a sense of achievement, hence will continue to be proactive in displaying traits of being more energy conscious both in the office and at home."