Current unsatisfactory situation in Ukraine’s fuel-and-power sector and the country’s significant dependence on foreign energy supplies require that key changes be made in the sphere of energy utilization. This problem holds back economic development now.
THE ENERGY-SAVING PROGRAM IS TO IMPROVE CONTINUOUSLY
THE ENERGY-SAVING PROGRAM IS TO IMPROVE CONTINUOUSLY
Current unsatisfactory situation in Ukraine’s
fuel-and-power sector and the country’s significant dependence on foreign energy
supplies require that key changes be made in the sphere of energy utilization. This
problem holds back economic development now.
Limitations in electric-energy and fuel supplies to Ukraine
will, evidently, continue and so will the rise in prices for the indicated energy
resources. The reasons for this situation are well-known, since a lot has been written
about them.
At the same time, there is a lot of room for improvement in
the employed energy-saving technology. The techniques presently used in this sphere do not
correspond to the current situation in the country’s fuel-and-energy sector.
The radical improvement in energy utilization largely
depends on organization of the energy-saving process in the country in general as well as
at every individual enterprise. The level of this organization is extremely low at the
moment, which requires key changes in the approach towards energy-saving. First of all,
owners and managers of enterprises should rethink and reconsider the possible ways out of
the present problems.
Ukraine’s mining-and-metallurgical complex is one of the
most energy-consuming sectors of the economy. It accounts for around 20% of all fuel and
electric energy consumed by the country. Energy expenses account for up to 50% and higher
in the cost of metallurgical products. The energy intensity of Ukrainian metal products
came to 1.8 tonnes of equivalent fuel in 2000, whereas industrially developed countries
reported this figure at 1.1-1.2 tonnes of equivalent fuel.
Apart from significant physical deterioration of equipment,
employment of obsolete metallurgical and energy technologies, regular limitations in
electric-energy supplies to enterprises, and a growth of energy prices, the high rate of
energy consumption in the Ukrainian metal production can be explained by the poor
organization of the energy-saving process.
Such factors as complexity of metallurgical technologies,
overloading of enterprises with various energy units, transposition of large quantities of
raw and other materials, high-temperature semis, and waste, as well as travel of large
flows of energy resources of various physical and chemical composition require strict
organization of continuity and smoothness of metallurgical processes.
Even an insignificant malfunction in these processes
usually lead to a significant loss or waste of various energy resources.
The energy-consumption rate depends on the quality of
energy resources; that of iron-ore raw materials, coke, metal scrap, and refractory
materials used; deflections in their dosing standards; temperature losses during
transposition of high-temperature semis and gaseous waste; quantity and composition of
produced and utilized types of secondary fuel and thermal energy, etc. It also depends on
an enterprise’s efficiency in utilization of such derived energy resources as furnace
blast, oxygen, compressed air, waters of various purposes, and electric and thermal
energy; the physical condition of the energy communication system; and on the
enterprise’s workers’ and management’s attitude towards and duties as regards
economical utilization of energy resources.
Huge annual consumption of fuel (each of the Ukrainian
metallurgical enterprises utilizes from hundreds of thousands to 7 million tonnes of
equivalent fuel a year) and electric energy (from hundreds of millions to 5 billion
kW•hours a year) is accompanied by significant energy losses and wastes if the
organization of the energy-saving system at an enterprise is not on the proper level.
Taking into account the mentioned-above factors, it is
possible to conclude that each enterprise can radically improve its energy utilization
only if it continuously and regularly launches and employs the specific energy-saving
technologies.
An energy-saving technology is based on the ideas of
efficient fuel and energy consumption, minimization of energy inputs in any production
process, and improvement of equipment’s performance.
These ideas are to be implemented in the production
activity and everyday life. This cannot be done by making up a list of obligatory
energy-saving measures at every enterprise with sporadic checks of whether the orders are
duly executed, but rather by working out and implementing an “Energy-Saving Program”.
This would provide for continuous and regular introduction and employment of
specific-purpose energy-saving technologies in production and establish and launch an
efficient mechanism of control over fulfillment of the program by the enterprises.
Before drawing up the Program, owners and management of an
enterprise should analyze the present and forecast situation on the domestic and foreign
energy markets. This will help them estimate the program’s potential value for
improvement of the company’s financial state and set the real goals in the program.
The energy-saving program must contain the following parts:
1. Duties of management (owners) and means of control over
the program’s execution.
2. Elaboration of the program and labor resources allocated
for this purpose.
3. Energy audit, balance sheets, and a mechanism of control
over energy consumption.
4. Energy-saving training of the personnel.
5. Analysis of energy consumption.
6. Cost analysis of all types of energy resources.
7. Goal and priority setting.
8. Working out of energy-saving techniques and schedules.
9. The program’s implementation and financing.
In order for the program to be successful, it must be
supported by the top management and owners, without which the enterprise’s personnel may
consider it as just another slogan without real measures behind it.
It is important for the management (owners) not to create a
program that they will be unable to support. At the same time, too brief a list of the
program’s goals will lead to a further clarification, which may impede the program’s
efficiency.
The mid-level management (namely, heads, deputy heads, as
well as employees of all workshops and departments) are a no-less important link in the
program’s working out and implementation. In order for a program to achieve positive
results, they have to participate in every stage of the program’s elaboration and be
responsible for its execution during their part of the production process.
The company’s management (owners) should appoint head of
the program, who would be responsible for both organization of its development and
coordination of its implementation. In addition to periodical reporting to the director
general (chair of the board of directors) on the course and results of the program, the
head of the program would also have to occasionally provide information on possible future
developments in the current situation as regards the fuel and electric-energy supplies to
the enterprise and changes in prices and terms of payment for energy resources. Such
forecasting capacity would increase the value of the program and facilitate its
implementation.
The head of the program is responsible for obtaining the
necessary information on the economic effect from and losses caused by utilization of the
energy resources, as well as for bringing this information to workers of all workshops.
The main reason for low efficiency of energy-saving at
Ukrainian enterprises is the fact that they lack the following three components of an
energy-saving system: coordination of the energy-saving processes, up-to-date systems for
monitoring and control of energy expenses, and systematic calculation of financial losses
caused by inefficient utilization of energy resources.
Thus, the head of the program will have to change the
widespread underestimating attitude towards the importance of energy-saving and provide
proper analysis of energy-consumption balance and financial losses incurred by energy
waste or inefficient energy utilization at an enterprise.
The program must provide participation of all the personnel
of an enterprise in the energy-saving process, from owners and top-managers to workers and
employees in all departments, including financial, planning, book-keeping and other
structures.
The designers of the program must take into account that it
must provide for the following measures:
- Energy schemes for every type of energy resource should
be made up. Such a scheme would indicate the energy’s source, length of energy
communication, consumers, and the most likely loss sections.
- Energy balance sheets for every type of energy resource
should be drawn. Such a balance would take into account all the parameters (pressure,
tension, etc.).
- A system for monitoring of the causes of possible
imbalance should be launched and methods for elimination of the imbalance should be worked
out.
- Up-to-date systems for automated calculation of and
control over consumption of every energy resource type should be introduced and employed.
- A system for collection and analysis of data on costs of
and prices for various types of energy resources should be launched and maintained in
order to forecast the potential ways of saving financial means and setting priorities in
energy-saving.
- The company should conduct energy audit of the
enterprise’s workshops and departments in order to estimate their energy-saving
potential and capacity for further planning of energy-saving measures.
- The company should train and teach the employees directly
involved with the program all the required skills and knowledge as regards energy-saving
(for example, methods of detection of inefficient energy utilization and possible ways to
improve the situation).
- A system for calculation of the optimal rates of raw and
energy inputs for various production processes should be worked out and introduced.
- The program’s sources of financing should be clearly
identified. Top-expertise employees and workers should be assigned to work on the
program’s development.
- A system for monitoring of investment in the program and
for estimation of return on this investment should be developed.
- The participants of the program who determine the
practical ways to avoid energy losses or financial losses incurred by inefficient energy
utilization and those who work out and practically implement the energy-saving measures
must be additionally materially and morally remunerated.
The energy-saving process must be launched only upon
acceptance of the corresponding duties by the management and setting of main goals. These
are reworded as specific tasks and are brought to the notice of the enterprise’s workers
and employees.
At the beginning, the program will require a lot of effort
for its launch and implementation, but in the end, it will bring in profit resulting in
significant energy savings.
The energy-saving program will be supposed to smoothly
transform into the continuous improvement process. This transformation is necessary in
order to change the existing attitude towards energy-saving.
The initial financing of the program should come from the
enterprise itself, since many metal-making companies indicated profits in 2000 (the year
of the economic experiment in the mining-and-metallurgical sector of Ukraine).
After the detailed estimation of the energy economy
resulting from the program’s implementation has been made, the financial means saved
from reduced energy purchases (owing to a more efficient energy utilization) can become a
source for further financing of the energy-saving program.
A curtailment of the share of energy expenses in the cost
of metal products is highly needed at the moment, because this increases the competitive
capacity of the national product. Such a curtailment will be even more important in the
future taking into account another possible jump in prices for energy resources soon.
There are several state regulations that are hoped to
contribute to the change in attitude towards energy-saving technology in Ukraine. These
are regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers No.1040 “On urgent measures as regards
execution of the State Complex Program on Energy-Saving in Ukraine” dated June 27, 2000
and No.1071 “On a number of measures aimed at efficient utilization of fuel and energy
resources” dated July 7, 2000 (this regulation approves more strict punitive sanctions
for inefficient utilization of energy resources), as well as “Regulation on material
remuneration of individual employees and personnel of the enterprises and organizations
for implementation of energy-saving measures in production” approved by the joint order
of the State Committee on Energy-Saving and the Ministry of Economy No. 47/127 dated June
21, 2000.