Paje urges industries to shift to new energy-efficient chillers

MANILA, Philippines - Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Ramon Paje is calling on industries to shift to new energy-efficient chillers to save on energy bills and avail of incentives provided under the Philippine Chillers Energy Efficiency Project (PCEEP).

“Given today’s technologies which are not only energy efficient but are also using non-CFC (chlorofluorocarbon) alternatives refrigerants, we can assure the private sector that replacing their old chillers with new ones make good business sense,” Paje said.

He explained that the PCEEP is a grant project of the World Bank and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) amounting to $47.9 million. It will run for 10 years, starting this year up to 2020, and seeks to replace some 375 inefficient, CFC-based chillers with non-CFC based models.

A chiller is defined as an industrial- and commercial-grade refrigerating system used in cooling applications for buildings, raw materials, chemicals, medical equipment and industrial equipment. The (chiller) system includes a compressor, evaporator, condenser, reservoir, thermal expansion valve and stabilization assembly. During the chilling process, heat from a liquid is removed via a vapor-compression or absorption-refrigeration cycle.

To accelerate the conversion to new technologies, Paje said, “Chiller owners are given two options to enable them to obtain financial incentives under the project.”

Option I is to avail of the subsidy equivalent to 15 percent of the normal cost of new non-CFC-based energy efficient chillers on condition that the chiller owner must agree to relinquish future carbon finance revenues under the program.

The second option is not to avail of the subsidy but the chiller owner must surrender 20 to 25 percent of the clean development mechanism (CDM) revenues that will be obtained from selling carbon emission reductions (CERs) under the project. The amount will be used to cover the cost for administration, financial management, reporting, marketing and other CDM related costs.

Paje noted that the project is also consistent with international and national policy phasing out the use of CFCs and other ozone-depleting substances.