Malcolm Souness of Natural Systems Ltd delivered energy audits to more than 30 Landcorp farm dairies throughout New Zealand. The findings of his work have resulted in an average of 9% energy savings with a payback of less than three years (including the cost of the audit work).

"Energy cost savings were estimated at between 10% and 16%, so an average of 9% is not far from the mark with the customer managing the implementation."

An innovative approach was taken to audit multiple sites using Field Agents to visit the sites and a specialist dairy energy engineer to operate a special energy model that evaluates all of the energy savings options available to each farm.

"This is a new approach to delivering energy management services that has potential to turn the energy services industry on its head... this really strips the cost out of delivering accurate energy saving recommendations."

ENDS
Milking Shed Makeovers
(extract from EECA News - Issue 4 - Spring 2009)

When Landcorp Farming first started dairying 10 years ago, the price of electricity was significantly lower than today. Even then, it was obvious that power accounted for a major proportion of costs, and energy consultant Joe Schyns was brought on board to help. Schyns ensured the basics were in place across Landcorp’s 27 dairy farms – including managing energy load, using tariffs strategically and matching electricity invoices to physical farm installations. But there were further gains to be made. A decade on, Landcorp undertook a serious review of its energy use – and has found ways to cut energy use by 9%, saving more than $50,000 a year. “After watching the price per kilo (of milk solids) and cost per kilo lines converging, we took steps to minimise operating costs. We broke down dairy expenditure and looked at what our big spends were per farm – not surprisingly, electricity was one of the largest items,” says procurement specialist and project manager Vaughan Griffiths. Landcorp invested in energy audits at all its farms, fi nding numerous energy-saving opportunities. As a result new technology was installed at most farms, including refrigerator heat recovery and variable drive systems on pumps to manage their energy use. Hot water pipes and cylinders were insulated at the same time, to prevent unnecessary heat loss. The installation took five months, with an average payback per farm of just over three years. Tomo Reed, account manager for the primary production sector at EECA, says farmers are increasingly aware that their electricity bills are not a fixed cost – there are options to reduce them. Dairy farmers know all too well that milking cows is an energy-intensive business. Landcorp’s energy audit focused on the milking shed as the most energy-intensive part of the dairying business.