Dairygold wins Ireland’s Large Business Energy Management Award
In recognition of its commitment to environmental sustainability, Dairygold has won a top award for energy management by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).
The SEAI awards celebrate excellence in energy management in businesses, communities and public sector organisations.
At an awards ceremony recently held in Dublin, Dairygold was awarded top prize in the Large Business Energy Management Category for its energy management programme that’s founded on the international energy management standard, ISO50001.
Two of Dairygold’s processing sites in Mitchelstown have received ISO50001 certification, a standard used to progress energy management and to identify energy saving projects for investment.
Through this Dairygold identified numerous projects for investment which include the installation of biogas boiler, the largest of its kind in Europe.
While improving environmental efficiency is a key priority, the majority of these projects have also delivered a return on investment shortly after implementation with annual energy savings of 7.67 GW and €300,000 in cost savings achieved to date.
Dr Gabriel Kelly, Group Environment, Health & Safety Manager stated: “This award is a wonderful recognition of the team work carried out as part of ISO 50001 energy management coupled with our lean manufacturing process to achieve the energy savings. This award shows that small to medium projects can make a difference to energy conservation and the adoption of an energy efficiency project strategy yields both benefits for the organisation, and in this instance national recognition.”
Commenting on the Awards, Jim Gannon, Chief Executive of SEAI, said: “The SEAI Sustainable Energy Awards are all about showcasing the excellent work that is happening around the country as businesses, communities and public bodies push the boundaries in energy efficiency and the switch to clean energy. This is especially the case where climate change is at the forefront of the news agenda, particularly as countries gather for climate talks at COP23 in Bonn right now. The 120 entrants to the Awards are playing their part and I commend the winners on their outstanding achievements in saving energy.”