Five years of energy audits: benefits and barriers for businesses

Archived article. Job titles, figures and savings describe the cases at the original publication date and are not performance guarantees for other facilities.

What can an energy audit tell a business?

An energy audit evaluates how a business's energy-consuming systems operate. It identifies equipment, stages or processes with wasteful or inefficient use and proposes practical energy-saving measures. It helps the business understand current consumption, future trends and its potential for improvement.

Helping businesses implement improvements

Under the national programme on economical and efficient energy use, provincial and city energy-efficiency and cleaner-production centres, together with consultants such as ITVC Global, had supported hundreds of production facilities and major energy users with audits from 2011 to the period covered by the article. The resulting recommendations encouraged industrial companies, including Dong Binh Joint Stock Company in Gia Binh, Nam Son Brick Joint Stock Company in Que Vo and CoDo Vietnam in Dai Dong-Hoan Son Industrial Park, to invest in efficient equipment, improve workshops and plan production more effectively. The article reported initial savings of hundreds of millions of dong a year at participating facilities.

The Dong Binh case

Tran Van Khang, then General Director of Dong Binh Joint Stock Company, explained that lowering energy costs helped an export garment manufacturer reduce product costs and improve competitiveness. The company audited the electrical systems in its sewing workshops, replaced high-wattage lamps with lower-wattage lighting that maintained working illumination, installed modern sewing machines, switched off unnecessary equipment and added natural-cooling equipment. Total investment was nearly VND 300 million. He reported annual savings of almost VND 170 million.

Barriers and savings potential

Despite the programme's benefits, the article found that many businesses remained reluctant to participate. Some continued using older production lines with high material and energy consumption. Others feared that an audit would require disclosure of production processes, equipment specifications or proprietary technology.

The audited facilities discussed in the article indicated potential energy savings of 10-20% at large enterprises. The report also identified inefficient energy use in public-sector premises. Consultants such as ITVC Global advised on operational improvements and equipment appropriate to the required functions and available budgets, including proposals that could support applications for public funding where applicable.

The article reported that many enterprises had yet to appreciate the value of audits and were slow to adopt recommended measures. Some recognised the benefits but implemented only part of the recommendations, or did not implement them at all. Several reasons were cited, with limited investment funding identified as a major barrier.

Wider benefits and the scope of audit obligations

Energy saving benefits businesses, supports national energy security and reduces environmental emissions. The article referred to the national programme approved on 2 October 2012. The legal obligation should be distinguished from that programme: Article 33 of Law 50/2010/QH12 required designated major energy users to undertake a mandatory energy audit once every three years. It did not impose that requirement on every enterprise or public agency. Organisations should determine the rules applicable to their facility when planning compliance.

Law 50/2010/QH12 — Article 33