Sri Lanka, first in Asia to follow energy management system

Sri Lanka is the first country in the SAARC region to follow international standards on energy management systems. The ISO 500001 standards on energy management systems will be introduced next year and it will become operational by 2012, said President Sri Lanka Association for Quality (SLAQ) Dr. Sri Lal de Silva.

Energy management is now becoming a global issue as effective energy management is a priority focus because there is a great need to save energy and reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions worldwide.

Today effective energy management is a crucial issue for the success of any business as the high energy cost at present has resulted in higher production cost. Therefore, our products find difficult to compete globally.

The solution is an effective energy management system which will manage the energy efficiently and reduce the waste of energy as well as reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions. He said that if proper systems are in place the energy cost can be reduced by 20 percent and if we can save 10 percent it is equal to building a new hydro power plant.

SLAQ has already linked up with the British Standard Institution and System Management Consultants to create awareness in Sri Lanka on energy management systems and also support companies to save energy. A seminar is scheduled for April 20 where all the Chief Executive Officers have been invited and our main focus is on plantations, hotels, ceramic manufacturers and the big businesses. Already there is a positive response from the tea plantations, Hayleys Group and the Ceramic industry.

He said that some initiatives on energy conservation has been taken by the Sustainable Energy Authority and these have resulted in a 16 percent energy saving in some companies in the plantation sector. Dr. De Silva said that international, regional and national bodies are actively involved in developing these standards and already the European commission on standardisation and the British Standards Institution had issued BS EN 16001:2009 which is used to promote energy management systems. ISO is working on ISO 500001 which is expected to be issued in 2011.

The standard is to specify requirements for an organization to establish, implement, maintain and improve an energy management system which enables the organization to take a systematic approach to achieve continual improvement of energy performance, energy efficiency and energy conservation.

The objectives of an energy management system will address issues such as energy supply, documentation, measurement of consumption, reporting of energy use, procurement of energy using equipment and design practices of energy using systems. (SG)