East African Breweries Limited has reported that the company’s energy management measures have saved the company about Ksh. 70 million in the last year.
At a meeting with the Energy and Water ministries and the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM), KBL Managing Director Jane Karuku said that in the last one year the company has reduced energy use by 8 percent in spite of volume growth, enabling the company to save 15 Million Kilowatts (KW). The company’s sustainability strategy has also focused on reduction of water use. The company’s water use also reduced by 4 percent, saving over 67 million litres of water in the last year.
The meeting, which involved a visit to EABL’s Tusker brewery in Ruaraka, was set up by KAM in recognition of KBL’s win in this year’s Energy Management Awards. EABL Corporate Relations Director Eric Kiniti, expressed his pleasure at being considered a benchmark in the industry.
“We are honoured to host industry leaders who think of us as a trendsetter. Our goal is to achieve manufacturing excellence driven by a manufacturing management system that focuses on performance management, standards implementation and capability building. Within Diageo, KBL continues to hold the first position on Energy use efficiency in litre per litre of beer produced. In addition, it is ranked top-5 of the global beer sites with regards to delivering efficiencies on water and energy used per litre of beer produced. KBL commands a huge energy footprint which informs the site on the strategic choices how we use energy and measures to take towards achieve energy use reduction aimed at improving sustainability and the energy cost base,” added Mr. Kiniti.
KAM CEO Phyllis Wakiaga said that in order to fully realize the impact of sustainability agenda, sustainable manufacturing will be driven by knowledge sharing between industry players.
“We aim to promote excellence in energy management. Through initiatives such as the annual Energy Management Awards, we have been able to encourage competitiveness in energy efficiency and conservation among manufacturers. It is estimated that industries that have participated in the Energy Management Awards, have a combined energy savings worth KES 13.7 billion over the last 15 years, with the potential cost savings of up to Kshs. 419.5 million. Energy cost and availability have always been central to industrial growth and consequently, sustained economic development for many countries around the world. We are grateful to KBL for hosting us and for their willingness to show us how they do it so that we can learn from each other and spread this knowledge to our members to fast track the transition towards sustainable manufacturing. We are at the forefront in identifying industries that are doing their best to keep up with energy efficiency and we give recognition for that.”
The delegation that attended the forum also included representatives from; the Ministry of Energy, Kengen, Kenya Power, Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Ministry of Water and Sanitation and the Danish International Development Agency.
The aim of the forum was for the delegation to learn from EABL’s journey of energy efficiency and reduced carbon footprint, which has led to reduced environmental impact in the company’s operations. They were also taken through the company’s sustainable energy system which comprises renewable energy sources, energy efficient practices and clean energy technologies and infrastructure.