Port sees the light on energy

A quick glance across the Waitemata Harbour at the Ports of Auckland after dusk will see that it's lit up like a Christmas tree.

As the straddle carriers take containers to and from the ships, the fluorescent glow from the light towers stretches beyond the port's fences, into the night sky and beyond.

But a new approach to saving power at the port will soon be saving money as well as improving the night sky, with about $1 million to be invested in two initiatives that will reduce electricity consumption by up to 20 per cent a year.

The port's 1350 floodlights will be replaced with 650 new lights, a move that will shave 15 per cent of the energy bill.

Ten times less "spillover" light will be produced, meaning efficiency gains in the use of the light - rather than having it light up the night sky.

The new lights have the same 1kW lamp as the old ones but, because the new reflectors control the light better, less than half as many are needed.

Work is already under way at the Axis Fergusson container wharf, to be followed by Queens Wharf, then the Axis Bledisloe. All the work should be finished by the end of July.

The other big energy saver will centre around how refrigerated containers are stored.

"Power factor correction units" have been installed at two of the main electricity substations on the port.

Keeping these containers - a standard size is the equivalent of 73 domestic fridges - cool accounts for about 50 per cent of the port's power consumption. The efficiency moves are expected to deliver a 5 per cent saving in electricity.

A study by Energy Solutions, a leading efficiency audit company, has estimated that a cumulative national benefit of $75 billion could be achieved by 2020 from an investment in energy efficiency of $12 billion.

It used the example of the University of Auckland, where the amount of energy used per full-time student had fallen by half in the past 20 years.

The study concluded that energy efficiency had a much higher potential for reducing energy costs and carbon emissions than earlier studies had shown.

* Businesses can apply to the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) for a grant to help meet the cost of an electricity or energy audit.

The EECA Emprove programme has money available for large electricity users (sites with electricity use of 10 GWh/annum or more) for up to 75 per cent of the audit cost.

Funding of up to 50 per cent of the cost of the audit is available for businesses operating sites that use energy costing $50,000 or more a year.

Lights off

* About $1 million is to be invested to reduce electricity consumption by 20 per cent a year.

* 15 per cent of that will come from new floodlights.

* The remaining 5 per cent will come from the improved handling of refrigerated containers.