KEY STATISTICS
- 25% in energy saving within the first two months
- Informative testing of new products for carbon footprint
- Identification of power factor issues resulted in significant savings
Gardline Group – High electricity usage
Gardline was established in 1969 to provide marine support to a flourishing offshore oil and gas industry in the North Sea. Today, Gardline is a 1,000-strong, £140m turnover group of businesses, headquartered still in Great Yarmouth but whose activities around the world now include satellite communications, marine sciences, security, ship building, dry dock engineering, geographical information systems and digital mapping. The Great Yarmouth HQ has grown over the years to support global business growth and now employs several hundred staff – with over £1m annually spent on electricity.
Engineering is at the core of Gardline’s business
Controlling energy consumption a key priority
Many of the businesses within the Gardline Group are highly energy-intensive and so controlling energy costs was a real challenge and a key priority. Gardline partnered with Green Running to help manage energy consumption and reduce costs in this area.
eAnalyser adopted to monitor energy consumption at Head Office
Gardline’s initial energy-saving project focused on its Head Office. Using several eAnalyser energy monitors , electricity usage on major circuits was tracked for a full week to provide a comprehensive set of measures. Green Running’s proprietary 5-step approach was then followed, to help the project team identify exactly where energy was being used – and where it could be saved. Within a few weeks, significant savings were identified.
Alwyn Davies, the Gardline project manager, explains:
“Looking closely at the energy we’re actually consuming makes savings so easy. For example, after just a couple of days’ monitoring we were surprised to see something big happen every evening at 7pm. Taking a closer look, we found that this was actually due to a faulty machine, meaning that large amounts of energy were being wasted without our knowledge.”
Gardline Head Office achieved a 25% saving in electricity within the first two months of adopting the eAnalyser energy monitor.
Evaluating energy usage of a new electrical product
Another Gardline company makes electrical equipment and was keen to test the energy footprint of a new heat pump. Alwyn Davies, the Gardline project manager, explains:
“The heat pump was developed with an innovative design, but we weren’t sure if it would be efficient as a product. Using the eAnalyser energy monitor allowed us to easily test the product in a large number of real-life situations”.
Identification of power factor issues resulted in significant savings
At Gardline’s diesel engine repair plant, the eAnalyser energy monitor identified significant power factor issues. Despite having power factor correcting equipment installed, it was discovered that at times of peak consumption the equipment installed was not sufficiently sized, resulting in a power factor of 0.8.
This is a common occurrence when companies expand without changing equipment. Identification of the issue enabled Gardline to make a capital expenditure resulting in significant savings and a payback period of less than 1 year. It also avoided possible Network issues.
If you would like to discuss how Green Running could help you make energy savings, please contact us on 0800 907 0006 or email: info@greenrunning.com or complete the form given on your right side, so we can contact you at a convenient time.
