Wise Investment Pays Off
By Phi Hung
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| Energy saving is one of the immediate as well as long-run commands in the current situation of power shortage |
Business efficiency rests with not only maximizing profits but also on minimizing costs. And, to minimize costs, a certain cost has to be paid upfront. This principle applies well to investment in energy saving, an endeavor many enterprises are pursuing in today’s world of increasingly scarce energy sources.
It is understandable when the operator of Big C stores chain is now ready to spend a huge sum to cut energy costs. The determination comes to the operator after it has spent nearly one year to look for ways to reduce energy use, as its electricity consumption normally stands at around 5.5 million kilowatt-hours a month.
In June, the stores chain operator cut deals with Thang Long Lighting Service Co. and Schneider Electric Vietnam, with an aim to minimize the cost of energy. The energy-saving project comes at a cost, and a big one at that: VND13 billion.
In fact, many enterprises are now aware of the huge benefits — and profits as well — that are brought about by investing in energy-saving programs.
Vitecfood, under Masan Group, in Tan Binh Industrial Zone, has spent about VND300 million on energy efficiency, and the bold move has paid off. The company said the high benefits of one month’s energy saving now is almost enough for the company to recoup all investment in this field. Vitecfood can now save about VND2.7 billion a year from the energy-saving program.
In the case of Fujitsu Vietnam in Dong Nai Province as another example, the benefit also amounts to billions of Vietnam dong each year. Since launching the energy-saving program, the company has been able to save about 6.24 million kWh per year, equivalent to VND10 billion.
From a wider perspective, while energy saving promises higher returns for companies, such micro-economic programs also greatly benefit the entire economy.
Ten years ago, the Government passed a decree calling for the energy efficiency, and it was officially upgraded to a national target in 2006, called the National Targeted Program on Energy Efficiency and Conservation, or EEC.
Nguyen Dinh Hiep, head of the Science and Technology Department under Ministry of Industry and Trade, says that the EEC program aims to achieve a 3-5% reduction in the total energy consumption in the country during 2006-2010 and another 5-8% during the 2011-2015 period, equivalent to saving 5 million tons of oil equivalent (TOE) and 13 million TOE per year, respectively.
This is confirmed by a research project revealed recently by the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia that in 2030 if Vietnam cuts some 7.6% of the total consumption targeted in the EEC, it will save about 11.4 million tons of oil per year equivalent.
Experts believe that from 2015 Vietnam will have to import a large amount of energy, and at the time the cost will be much higher. That means many companies will suffer from an upsurge in energy cost because most of them are using out-of-date technologies and equipment, which consume a lot of energy.
Energy cost takes about 20% of the country’s GDP, according to some estimates. In HCM City, the manufacturing sector is consuming 36% of the total energy quota, of which steel, cement, textile and garment, and ceramic industries are big consumers.
As blackouts in the dry season become a big headache for the economy as well as for all stakeholders, energy saving becomes one of the immediate as well as long-run commands in the current situation of power shortage, for now and in the years to come.
“Energy efficiency is a practical solution for Vietnam to ensure the energy security, as well as an efficient way in response to the climate change, for a coastal country like Vietnam,” an expert said.
After all, according to him, investment in energy saving is the wise money. He figured out that the cost of making one kWh of electricity is four times bigger than the cost of saving one kWh, and that saving one kWh means a reduction of some 0.6 kilogram of carbon dioxide in the environment, the emission that causes climate change, to which Vietnam is a small contributor but of which it will be a big victim.
Investment that Big C stores chain is spending on energy saving is by no means small. However, the operator — as well as other companies that are mulling similar schemes — is confident that the investment will pay off. Under the project being executed, Big C expects to cut the energy amount consumed for lighting by as much as 40%. That means a much smaller monthly power bill in the coming time.