Energy Efficiency
In early 2013, a global energy efficiency program was launched, as part of ICL’s corporate-wide ACE (Ambition Creates Excellence) efficiency program. For this purpose, the company developed a standard methodology to be applied in all locations that includes creating an energy efficiency skill base within the company.
The ACE program frequently delivers significant operational savings and quality improvements beyond its core environmental aims of reducing fuel and electricity consumption as well as GHG emissions.
By the end of 2018, 27 of ICL’s largest production facilities around the world implemented this methodology. A total of 30 sites conducted the ACE process by the end of 2018 (three of which have since been divested). During 2019-20, four additional sites are due to implement the methodology. Other sites are being re-visited to refresh local teams and procedures and to identify new energy efficiency opportunities. The program is well established as ICL’s principal means of improving energy efficiency. The ACE program frequently delivers significant operational savings and quality improvements beyond its core environmental aims of reducing fuel and electricity consumption as well as greenhouse gas emissions.
The main efficiency projects implemented to date include:
- Optimizing the control and use of equipment used in production processes
- Re-using residual heat in production plant stacks
- Increased adoption of Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) technology to improve electrical efficiency.
- Greater efficiency in the production of compressed air and steam
- Deployment of advanced control systems for automatic shutdown of power, light and air-conditioning systems
In addition, ICL works to improve the awareness and behaviour of employees at all levels of the organization regarding energy use and avoiding waste.
As part of the ACE program, the company is implementing new and improved mandatory internal energy management systems. Individual ICL sites are either accredited to ISO 50001 by external accreditors (usually ICL’s largest energy consuming sites) or to a company standard by an internal verification panel (usually small and medium energy consuming sites). All major energy consuming sites will be accredited to ISO 50001 or the internal standard by 2020. ICL sites which have been accredited to ISO 50001 by the end of 2018 include ICL Dead Sea Works, ICL Neot-Hovav, all three sites of ICL Rotem (Rotem, Zin, Oron), ICL Rotem Periclase, four sites in ICL Germany (Bitterfeld, Ladenburg, Amfert Ludwigshafen, and Hagesued), two sites in ICL Netherlands (Terneuzen and Amfert Amsterdam) and ICL China Lian Yun Gang. The sites already accredited to ISO 50001 are together accountable for approximately 75% of the ICL global energy consumption. Further 5 ICL sites are due to be accredited by 2020, increasing the ISO 50001 coverage to over 80% of global consumption.
In 2019 ICL has also issued an updated Energy Policy, which applied to all global production sites. The policy focuses on the Energy Efficiency practices and management systems described in this page.
Success Matrices
ICL’s ACE energy efficiency plan has so far reduced energy expenses by approx. USD 53 million overall in 2013-8 compared to the 2012 base year. The specific savings in 2018 were approx. USD 10 million compared to 2017. The current goal is to achieve further USD 8 million in 2019 compared with 2018. Cumulative energy savings since the Energy Centre of Excellence began operating in 2005 are estimated at approximately USD 165 million (not including savings from the transition to natural gas).
Some energy cost saving initiatives do not necessarily reduce the actual quantity of energy consumed. For example: adapting production and/or maintenance schedules to increase usage of lower tariff energy supplies, or converting from fuel oil to natural gas.
ICL's goal is to achieve a year-by-year improvement of energy intensity, in over 50% of all product-based intensity KPI's.
To make sure the ACE plan delivers reductions in energy terms, and as part of the requirements of ISO 50001, ICL uses product-based energy intensity Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s). These KPI’s, measured in terms of MWh/tonne produced, are tracked for our main products. However, the energy consumption of a production line is frequently not linearly connected to production. Possible reasons can be:
- Product mix: Some of our product lines produce a wide and changing diversity of products every year, each with its own energy intensity, depending on customer demand and other ‘external’ market forces outside of ICL’s control.
- Production volumes: some energy needs are fixed and not dependant on production volume. Therefore, in most cases, higher volume production creates lower energy intensity. We, therefore, try to maximize batch volumes, but this is dependent on customer requirements.
- Weather: some sites are located in exceptionally hot or cold regions. Therefore, significant seasonal variations in energy consumption occur due to weather conditions.
For each product monitored, ICL creates an energy intensity curve based on long-time performance (see examples below). In these examples, the blue data points are historical averages from previous years and the red data points illustrate data for the most recent quarter. An improvement in the KPI is achieved if the quarterly reported intensity is below the nominal curve, and a setback is considered if the intensity is located above the curve.
The goal is to achieve a year-by-year improvement in over 50% of all product-based intensity KPI’s. In 2018, 45 of 70 products (64%) showed annual average improvement, achieving the annual target.
In 2018, 64% of products showed an annual average improvement.
