Since the 2001 introduction in the UK of a tax on the business use of energy (“The Climate Change Levy”), Kemira’s Bradford site has been taking steps to reduce both the financial and environmental implications of its use of both natural gas and electricity.
Over this period a great deal of work has been done to increase the energy efficiency of the Bradford manufacturing operations including:
- large scale installation of inverter drives
- replacement of old equipment (including steam raising boilers) with newer, more efficient technology
- improved process control so that motors, pumps etc. only run when actually required
- increased utilisation of equipment – more product produced by the same equipment, with little or no increase in power requirements
These changes have been incredibly successful and as a result the energy consumption per tonne of production has been reduced by around 20% from 2001 levels.
Solar panels – generating clean electricity
In addition to the actions mentioned above the sit
e has remained determined to carry on this improvement, so late in 2013 the decision was made to install an array of Solar Photovoltaic (PV) panels on the roof of the Bradford warehouse to enable the site to generate its own “clean” electricity.
e has remained determined to carry on this improvement, so late in 2013 the decision was made to install an array of Solar Photovoltaic (PV) panels on the roof of the Bradford warehouse to enable the site to generate its own “clean” electricity. The system (pictured right) consists of 1000 solar panels, each rated to 250W, giving a total installed capacity of 250kW. The expectation is that this system will generate an annual total of around 180MWh of electricity with zero emissions, reducing the CO2 emissions related to the Bradford operations by in excess of 75,000kg per year.
Installations of renewable energy technologies such as these Solar PV panels are financially supported by the UK Government, support which is likely to be worth in excess of £500,000 over the next 20 years. This is in addition to the savings the site will make in avoiding buying 180MWh of electricity from the network each year.