Port of Waterford hits 2020 energy efficiency targets
Port of Waterford have achieved their 2020 energy efficiency targets and are working towards the dual energy efficiency and carbon reduction targets for 2030, assisted by EcoMerit and ISO 14001 certifications.
The project
In 2019, Waterford Port carried out a number of measures to bring the organisation further along on their energy efficiency journey. They upgraded container crane and tower lights to LED and this alone resulted in 120,000 kWh or 10% energy savings per annum. They replaced foyer doors to prevent thermal leakage and they installed a solar PV array at Marine Point building, generating 8,000kWh electricity per annum for its own offices.
In addition, Port of Waterford purchased three electric vehicles for shipping pilot operations staff. By switching to a more environmentally friendly mode of transport, they managed to save 49% in energy costs when compared to conventional diesel cars.
"Port of Waterford remain active and committed to decarbonising our operations and pursuing the Government climate action targets. To that end we have had ongoing support from SEAI in tangible energy reducing projects and from our SEAI partnership support manager to develop an Energy Masterplan as part of our environmental strategy" - Frank Ronan, Chief Executive, Port of Waterford
What's next?
Port of Waterford will maintain its continuous performance assessment and implement further projects such as LED upgrades.
Energy efficiency in the public sector
The seventh Annual Report on Public Sector Energy Efficiency Performance is out now and was prepared for the Department of the Environment, Climate & Communications by SEAI. It is set in the context of Ireland's EU and national commitments and wider climate change goals, whereby a target of 33% energy efficiency improvement is to be achieved by all Irish public bodies (as defined in SI 426 of 2014) by end of 2020.
Public bodies are required to report annual energy efficiency data to the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), which manages the reporting process on behalf of the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC).
Read the report in full Read the press release