As the world World Environment Day earlier this month, one Barbadian company has invested in energy-saving technology and is working to steadily reduce its carbon footprint.
The BHL Group recently installed photovoltaic panels at three of its subsidiary companies – Banks (Barbados) Breweries Limited, Barbados Dairy Industries Limited (Pine Hill) and B&B Distribution, with further possible installations to follow.
Banks Breweries was the first company in the group to benefit from the system which has already begun generating significant returns. With a state-of-the-art facility located in Newton, it is now producing approximately ten per cent of its electrical requirement via renewable sources. The success of this set the tone for installations across the group.
The system at sister company Pine Hill features a 150 kilowatt solar array, which will withstand a wind load of up to 120 miles per hour. This is expected to reduce the dairy’s demand on energy produced via fossil fuels by 12 per cent to 15 per cent and has a return on investment of 25 per cent.
The savings to B&B Distribution will also be significant. With a similar infrastructure to its Pine Hill counterpart, the system will produce on average 300 000 Kilowatt hours with a return on investment of approximately 19 per cent.
Solar panel inverters have also been installed at the group’s finance office in Thornbury Hill, Christ Church, with a reduction in the cost of purchased energy of approximately 11 per cent noted at that location.
Ivor Trotman, sales and marketing representative at Solar Watt Systems Inc. – the company contracted to work on the installation at Pine Hill, underscored the value of photovoltaic technology both to businesses and to the wider society.
“The photovoltaic system will significantly reduce Pine Hill’s annual cost of energy. Also environmentally, it will save 207 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide, which equates to 170 acres of forest yearly or 492 536 miles per year travelled by the average passenger car.”
Chief executive officer of the BHL Group, Richard Cozier, said that the island’s largest beverage conglomerate was pleased to save energy on a large scale while positively impacting the environment, as this is the way of the future and part of BHL’s commitment to corporate social responsibility. (PR/SC)
