Duc, which claims to be one of France’s largest poultry producers, shaved 15% off of its energy bill, equating to an annual saving of €190,000 ($209,234).
The French poultry player teamed up with CertiNergy Solutions – an energy consumption consultancy – in 2015 to improve energy efficiency at its meat processing plant in Chailley.
CertiNergy implemented a range of analytical measures to monitor energy consumption at the chicken factory. Alongside this, the consultancy told Duc to install a waste recovery system, optimise cold production techniques and implement its energy management system, which sets up manageable targets to reduce energy output.
Performance concern
Minimising energy costs and simultaneously bolstering competitiveness while reducing production downtime were key reasons Duc brought in the energy consumption specialist. Duc – which earlier this month reported CEO Joel Marchand was stepping down – said the plan to bolster energy was to “protect the environment”. The business added the “ambitious project” had so far been successful.
“Research of industrial performance is at the heart of our concerns,” said Damien Grille, operational director of Duc.
“Accompanying the team at CertiNergy Solutions has helped to achieve energy performance projects that we could carry only short-term. In the end, the results significantly exceed what was originally planned.”
The business said it has reduced steam use at the site by 15% and slashed power consumption of cold production by 17%. Thanks to the success of the initiative, Duc plans to roll out similar energy efficiency schemes at its other factories in France with the help of CertiNergy Solutions.
“Through our different expertise, we were able to build an ambitious energy project serving the industrial performance of our client,” said Mathias Welschbillig, CEO of CertiNergy Solutions. He added the results meant the business planned to “deploy a similar approach” at Duc’s other sites.