Factory efficiency in focus

The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) has launched a survey on factories’ energy management nationwide to seek ways to help the industrial sector consume energy efficiently and cut costs.

Narong Bunditkamol, executive committee vice-chairman of the Institute of Industrial Energy, said the survey would cover 95 factories in the industrial sector — five each from 19 provinces.

Mr Narong said the Energy Ministry’s Energy Policy and Planning Office allocated a 100-million-baht budget for the FTI to conduct the survey. This is part of the country’s Energy Efficiency Plan that aims to reduce energy consumption by at least 22% by 2036.

“The Thai industrial sector consumes 37-38% of the country’s energy of 27,000 megawatts each year. Reducing energy consumption in factories will benefit both national energy security and company profits,” he said.

After inspection of those factories, the FTI will choose some that are willing to improve their energy efficiency and lend them financial support.

Mr Narong said the FTI would help absorb 30% of the costs to improve factories’ energy efficiency, while 70% will be covered by factory owners. He said the support will focus on small and medium-sized enterprises, which still require assistance.

“We will set up some factories to be case studies,” said Mr Narong.

He could not guarantee an amount of energy savings because improvements may be small compared with overall factory energy usage.

“The result will depend mainly on factory owners and how much they want to change,” said Mr Narong.

The FTI signed a memorandum of understanding with the Provincial Electric Authority (PEA) to provide experts and inspection instruments to survey the factories. The PEA in each area will promote the programme and advise factories.