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Energy inefficiency: Lack of capital or lack of understanding?
Using power effectively will help enterprises economize, but very few businesses have made “appropriate investments” in using power effectively.
ABC Company has 1,000 T10 lamps with current consumption capacities of 52W. As the company uses the lamps 6,000 hours per year, if it uses another kind of lamp, the T8, which has the capacity of only 42W, it will be able to save 60,000 kwh of electricity.
Besides its lighting system, the company also has 10 power engines with capacities of 465kwh. Experts have pointed out that that, if using inverters to manage the engines, each year ABC will be able to save 800,0000 kwh.
Without these changes, the company wastes 860,000kwh of electricity yearly, worth one billion dong.
The survey on power use of ABC (The name of the company has been changed), conducted by Vietnam Standard and Quality Institute, demonstrates that Vietnamese businesses have not paid appropriate attention to effective energy use nor optimizing use of the power system.
Phan said that ABC is not the only example in Vietnam of ineffective energy use. In the last five years, the Government has encouraged businesses and people to decrease energy consumption, but results remains modest.
In general, the increase in demand for electricity is still double the GDP growth rate, which is double that of developed countries.
Explaining this, many businesses explained that they lack funds to invest in effective energy use systems. Others admit that they do not lack the money, but they do lack the necessary knowledge.
World Bank and UNIDO analysts have pointed out that investments to save energy are one of the most profitable investment deal. A steam system, according to UNIDO, pays back the initial investment in less than one year, while it takes only one or two years to see a return for medium and 2-5 years at maximum to recover the investment.
It is clear that a lack of funds is not the key problem. The Vietnam Standard and Quality Institute (VSQI) has pointed out that business leaders are making light of saving electricity. They do not think that they need to use every method they can to save power. WB, UNIDO and the Ministry of Industry and Trade have estimated that industries’ potential to save energy may reach 30 percent.
Phan from VSQI noted that replacing low efficiency tools with higher efficiency ones can save only 3-5 percent of electricity, while changes in the management process can save up to 25 percent.
VietNamNet, TBKTSG
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