Valletta, 19^th February 2020 – The MBB held its first technical energy efficiency workshop as part of the MBB Business Energy Efficiency cluster. The event, held last week at the Malta Chamber, consisted of technical presentations on highly efficient systems in place in Malta, and working sessions exploring the potential to implement similar systems on other industrial sites.

This workshop was the first of a set of planned actions by the Business Energy Cluster aimed at supporting companies to identify, plan and implement energy efficiency projects. “A key barrier is that while there are companies with the capacity to identify and implement latest energy efficiency technology, others do not have this capacity. Business peers sharing knowledge can help address this difference in capacity,” said MBB Business Energy Cluster Manager Geoffrey Saliba.

De La Rue, represented by Health, Safety & Environmental Advisor Osward Armani, detailed a cooling system designed and built by De La Rue’s facilities department. The cooling system makes use of a large water reservoir as a heat sink, with a layered heat exchange system. The results are around 11 tons of CO₂ emissions reductions and EUR 10,000 annual operating cost reductions over comparable off-the-shelf systems.

FM CORE, represented by Director Ing. Edward Cauchi, presented an innovative technology mix used to cool Mater Dei Hospital, which has resulted in massive energy, CO₂ and financial savings over previous systems. The new system, in place for just under one year, consists of a mix of technologies including; the use of efficiency air and water cooling systems; centralised thermo-regulation systems; heat pumps; the use of previously wasted heat to meet hot water requirements through heat recovery; and real time data collections, analysis and reactivity. The new system has a very impressive estimated monthly emissions reduction of 200 tons of CO₂ over the previous system.

Following the presentations, rotating round-table discussions were led by Mr. Armani and Ing. Cauchi. Participants had the opportunity to present cooling challenges they encounter at their workplace and be given insight into potential solutions.

The MBB thanked FM Core and De La Rue for sharing their knowledge and best practice with participant companies.

“The manufacturing sector is a long-established and staple part of Malta’s economy. The MBB is grateful to those larger companies, or companies with particular expertise, which have offered to share their knowledge with smaller or less specialised companies. This knowledge exchange will help manufacturing companies improve the energy efficiency in their production, supporting increased productivity and meeting national environmental targets,” said MBB CEO Joe Tanti.

The MBB’s Business Energy Cluster will continue holding technical energy efficiency workshops over 2020, and encourages companies interested in improving their energy performance to collaborate.

The Business Energy Cluster builds on previous energy efficiency work undertaken by the MBB since 2014. This includes supporting the Energy and Water Agency’s Energy Efficiency Partner Initiative, leading the Investing in Energy Project, and promoting the creation of innovative and tailored energy financing schemes with Maltese stakeholders as well as European entities such as the European Commission and European Investment Bank.

Presentations delivered at the workshop may be downloaded from: FM CORE and De La Rue.