SMED seminar on managing electrical energy of business enterprises and industries

Small and Medium Enterprise Developers (SMED), the technical arm of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, successfully conducted a seminar on managing electrical energy of business enterprises and industries on 28 December at the FCCISL auditorium.

This seminar held at the end of 2011 was an effective New Year message and a wakeup call to all businesses and industries on the importance of managing electrical energy, which is also directly connected to climate change and sustainability issues.

Electrical energy management techniques contribute immensely to minimise the cost of production at industry level and consequently to the nation at large for maximum utilisation of limited resources at macro level.

SMED very specifically focused this seminar on electrical energy as it is common to any kind of business or industry of any scale. There were participants from a variety of organisations covering the industry and service sector.

The seminar was inaugurated by Sena Peiris, the Director National Cleaner Production Center of Sri Lanka (NCPC), and the President Asia Pacific Round Table on Sustainable Consumption and Production (APRSCP) made the introductory presentation on the importance of electricity management in industry of Sri Lanka.

He said that the “efforts to improve energy efficiency contributes to the enhancement of the triple bottom-line of an industry (financial, environment and social), which will be beneficial to the improvement of the country’s economy, environment and society.”

The seminar comprised useful topics relevant to electrical energy. Eng. Anura Wijayapala, Vice Chairman Ceylon Electricity Board and a senior lecturer of the University of Moratuwa, explained the electrical power fundamentals and presented an overview of Sri Lanka’s electrical power situation.

He reiterated the importance of electricity load management, the goal of which is to reduce maximum electricity demand, which will also lower the costs. He further said that every one unit of electricity saved would prevent emission of additional one kg of carbon dioxide.

Eng. Ananda Namal, Director General of National Engineering Research and Development Centre of Sri Lanka (NERD) and President Sri Lanka Energy Managers Association (SLEMA), made a presentation on energy management application in motors, A/C systems and power factor correction.

He described many opportunities of conservation measures in industry and also through good practices in the design and selection of equipment, installation, operation and maintenance.

Senior Consultant Eng. K.R.S. De Silva spoke on the Energy, Economy and Environment (3Es). He explained the importance of controlling energy waste and said that wastage of every one rupee worth energy needs additional thousands of rupees of sales to cover the losses and every additional energy generation releases carbon dioxide which will contribute to warming the earth.

Consultant and Senior VP of SLEMA Nimal Perera spoke on the potential for energy saving in lighting.

The last presentation of the day was on potential for energy management in building, with introduction to the new building code by Chamila Jayasekera, Head of Energy Efficiency Systems at the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority of the Ministry of Power and Energy.

In his presentation he said that the share of electricity consumption by industrial establishments is around 36 % and that of commercial establishments is 23%. The major areas of consumption in buildings are air conditioning and ventilation, which is round 78%.

He introduced to the participants ‘The Code of Practice for Energy in Buildings – 2008’ prepared by the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority, which is an excellent guide for conserving and efficiently using energy in buildings covering the areas of design and construction, lighting, A/C and ventilation, building envelope, electrical power distribution and service water heating.

The day’s proceedings ended with a panel discussion moderated by Sena Peiris and SMED Technical Consultant S.W.B. Wijekoon. SMED followed-up by addressing the questions and needs expressed by the participants.

SMED has been serving the industries and businesses since 1989 and has also carried out several projects in connection with energy and environment, including hosting of the UNIDO National Cleaner Production Center, UNEP GHG Emission Reduction Demonstration Project through energy efficiency improvement and the UNIDO triple bottom-line project.

At present SMED offers energy and environmental services such as training, consultancy and many other services, including industrial engineering and technology transfer, enterprise development, agribusiness development, public private partnership for SME promotions and market linkage and SME policy research and advocacy.