Energy Audit of a Brewery—A Case Study of Vitamalt Nig. Plc, Agbara

The efficient use of energy is of prime importance in all sector of the economy. Energy cost is a significant factor in economic activity on par with factors of production like capital, land and labor [1]. The imperative of an energy shortage situation calls for energy conservation measure, which essentially means using less energy for the same level of activity. A comprehensive energy audit of Vitamalt Nigeria Plc, Agbara was carried out using portable thermal and electrical instruments with the objective of studying the present pattern of energy consumption and identifying the possibilities of saving energy in the plant. Collected, was a five year (2000-2004) data on energy consumption of Vitamalt Nig. Plc. The data were evaluated and analyzed to determine the present energy performance level of the firm. A complete energy balance of the factory was carried out to relate energy input, conversion efficiency with production output in order to identify areas of energy wastages/losses and savings that can be achieved. Energy performance parameters such as Energy intensity, Energy productivity and Normalized performance indicator (NPI) were used as a measure of assessing the energy performance of the plant. The NPI calculated over the span of five years gave an average of 1.2 GJ/m² indicating a FAIR range in energy performance level classification (1.0 - 1.2) while significant savings and improvement in energy usage is achievable. Maximizing efficiency of existing system, optimizing energy input requirement and significant capital investment in procuring new energy conserving equipment must be made for the energy performance level to fall into a good range classification (less than 0.8).