Prior to the ener.CON Europe 2014, we spoke to Chris Stuart-Bennett, Group Energy Manager, Imperial Tobacco Limited / UK

1. Interview
Imperial Tobacco Limited / UK
Chris Stuart-Bennett
Group Energy Manager
Prior to the ener.CON Europe 2014, we spoke to Chris Stuart-Bennett, Group Energy Manager,
Imperial Tobacco Limited / UK
we.CONECT:
In your opinion- what are the main
current challenges and trends
regarding management and
optimization of energy efficiency for
asset intensive industries and what
are the specific challenges related to
your company?
Chris Stuart-Bennett: Competition for
funding is a big challenge. In many
industries,
energy
represents
a
significant share of the operating cost.
However, within the tobacco industry
energy represents perhaps 3% of the
total cost of production (without even
taking
employee
salaries
into
consideration). As a result, there are
always more financially appealing
projects to invest in or measures to
support and it requires constant reemphasis on the social, reputational and
long-term
sustainability
benefits
associated with energy efficiency in order
to get the projects approved.
we.CONECT:
Which challenges do you foresee to
occur in 2014/2015 in relation to
energy
efficiency
regulations/standards
and
requirements (i.e. requirements that
derive from the EED)?
Chris Stuart-Bennett: The recent
vacillations within the EU and the
fundamentally toothless nature of the
recent renewables agreement have
undermined a lot of our political
arguments for investment in energy
efficiency. There is a feeling amongst
some areas of senior management that
the urgency has begun to reduce,
whereas if anything, it is even more
crucial that we continue to invest in these
measures.
we.CONECT:
Which regulations and certifications
did influence your work mainly in the
past 12 months and which will be
important in the future?
Chris Stuart-Bennett: ISO50001 has
been an area of considerable attention
recently, with three of our major
manufacturing sites now certified, and
the majority of the remainder working
towards certification. This is even more
relevant in countries such as Germany
where there is now an actual financial
benefit associated with ISO50001
certification, in the form of tax rebates for
the company.
we.CONECT:
How do you measure and analyze the
cost-benefit ratio of energy efficiency
management?
Chris Stuart-Bennett: We use several
different ways of assessing the value of
the proposals. We look at the Net
Present Value of the proposals put
forwards for each site, we consider the
straight payback time (allowing for 10%
year-on-year energy price inflation) and
we consider the Profit and Loss impact of
each of the proposals.
we.CONECT:
According to your presentation
“ESCO-funded
Energy
Savings
Projects
and
Energy-Saving
Partnerships in Industrial Parks /
Energy Project Financing”, could you
briefly introduce us to the project and
what is important about this topic?
Chris Stuart-Bennett: Project Thor, as
we have named it, is a programme of
energy efficiency measures at our largest
sites based on an Energy Services
Contract (ESCO) model provided by
ScanEnergi Solutions, from Denmark.
Each site follows the same multi-phase
model. There is an initial 2 week site
audit which results in an audit report
detailing findings, proposals and outline
costs. Once investment approval has
been obtained on the basis of this outline
report then Phase 1 begins, which is the
4 month Verification and Planning phase,
during which more in-depth data analysis
takes place, IPMVP compliant baselines
are established and the detailed
technical
specification
and
implementation planning is worked out.
Phase 2 is then the installation phase,
and usually takes about 8 months to
complete. During this time, as various of
the sub-projects come on-line, we tend to
see the first savings appear. Finally,
once Phase 2 is complete we move on to
Phase 3 – the Measurement Phase.
Over the next 36 months ScanEnergi
monitor the performance of the site,
provide
guidance
on
employee
engagement work and behavior change,
and support further energy management
initiatives.
we.CONECT:
How different will the energy
efficiency management for asset
intensive industries of the year 2020
be from today’s one?
Chris
Stuart-Bennett:
The
fundamentals
really
won’t
differ
significantly – aim to use as little energy
as possible whilst achieving the same
levels of production and quality, thus
attaining overall cost-savings.
However, as we address the quick-win
projects and pluck the low-hanging fruit
during the next half a decade or so, the
technological retrofit measures will
become more expensive to implement.
As a result it is imperative that
businesses focus on ensuring that the
highest level of energy efficiency is built
into any new equipment, systems and
processes at the design level.
we.CONECT:
Which challenge/topic would you like
to discuss with your peers/the other
delegates at the ener.CON Europe
2014?
Chris Stuart-Bennett: We are now
moving onwards to on-site renewables
and I would be interested in learning of

2. any experiences that my peers might
have had regarding that.
we.CONECT:
Thanks a lot for this interview!
Interview Partner: Peter Haack and
Chris Stuart-Bennett.
Chris Stuart-Bennett is Group Energy Manager
at Imperial Tobacco Limited and currently
managing a global 8 year £25m ESCO
implementation program. Prior to this, he
worked as IEMA certified project manager
(APM Certified) in several positions within
Imperial Tobacco, being involved in Global IS
projects and Environmental/H&S projects. In
addition, Chris has several years of hands-on
technical IS experience.
ener.con Europe is the leading event for
improving energy efficiency for asset intensive
industries in Europe.
Information about the event and about
we.CONECT can be found at:
http://enercon2014.we-conect.com/en/
Contact:
Stefanie Nawrocki
Program Manager I Corporate, IT &
Manufacturing Division
Phone: +49 (0)30 52 10 70 3 – 47
Fax: +49 (0)30 52 10 70 3 – 30
Email: Stefanie.Nawrocki@we-conect.com
we.CONECT Global Leaders GmbH
Gertraudenstr. 10-12
10178 Berlin, Germany
www.we-conect.com