Zee Lanka and Ihandal launch energy saving technology

By Rashika Fazali

With the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) set to increase the electricity tariff by 25% from next month, businesses are eager to find ways to cut down on their energy consumption and convert their businesses to energy efficient ones.

Zee Lanka, a subsidiary of Zee Engineering Pvt. Ltd., along with Malaysian-based Ihandal Energy Solutions, launched ‘Enerzee’, a new proven technology that is set to help Sri Lankan businesses reduce their energy usage by at least 20%.

This new technology will assist businesses that have central air conditioning and water boilers which are usually the cause for producing high energy consumption, thus high electricity bills. This is done by converting coolers using their heat recovery equipment.

Zee Lanka CEO Lionel Fernando stated: “We are certain that this will be an innovative change in the consumption of electricity.” He added that this could further lead towards sustainable development.

He also said that the per capita energy consumption is around 600 kWh per year and the need for energy is around 10,000 gWh. This could cost the CEB Rs. 268 billion for electricity production this year.

As an example, Fernando pointed to the electricity costs of the central Government medical institutions from 2008 to 2012. He revealed that in 2008, they spent a staggering Rs. 1,500 million on electricity bills alone. In 2009, it increased to Rs. 1,600 million while in 2010, it went up to Rs. 1,890 million. In the last two years, it increased again to Rs. 2,100 million and Rs. 2,200 million respectively.

Taking into account these huge figures, Fernando stated: “Now, we have to take on the task to find ways to bring down this cost.” Proving that ‘Enerzee’ works well, it was noted that Gleneagles Hospital based in Kuala Lumpur reduced and made annual savings on their energy bills by up to 72.3% with the solutions offered by Ihandal.

Minster of Petroleum Industries Anura Priyadarshana Yapa attending the event as the Chief Guest had few words to say: “This launch on such a platform has been initiated to meet the challenges faced by the diminishing quantities of fossil fuel and the rise of crude oil prices in the international market. In this context, the cost of energy in Sri Lanka has risen rapidly.”

He further mentioned that with Sri Lanka’s potential to tap into renewable energy sources such as biomass, hydropower, solar energy, wind power, thermal energy and ocean energy (tidal waves), Zee Lanka should pay attention to these areas for future investment which will contribute to the sustainable development in the country.

Sri Lanka currently spends more than 40% of the country’s proceeds on transportation and production of thermal energy, stated Yapa. He also revealed that the energy requirements in the country will double by 2020.

Using ‘Enerzee’ could bring about savings of 20% in energy consumption with the use of hybrid heat recovery solutions with chillier optimisation, stated Ihandal Energy Solutions Director Aaron Patel. This solution will be the first of many that they will bring down to Sri Lanka.

The hybrid heat recovery solution has minimal maintenance with no cleaning cost as the technology is always clean. In other words, this solution is ‘financial and operational risk free.’

Patel also mentioned that through solutions produced by Ihandal, many companies in Malaysia were able cut down on their costs by at least 80%. They are hoping to start right away on commercial businesses and to move on to domestic usage at the end of the year. Fernando added that this technology saves money, therefore becoming an investment for any company.

Pix by Lasantha Kumara