Assessing the Potential of Energy Saving Through Energy Management Systems in Energy Intensive Factories: Case of Lafarge Cement (Malawi)

Electricity production in Malawi still remains inadequate. Efforts are being made to improve the reliability of the electricity supply. One way is to improve the generation capacity and the other is to efficiently utilize the available power. Efficient power use alone can save a considerable amount of power. For instance, the Malawi government's free distribution of 1.3 million energy saver bulbs to replace incandescent bulbs in households is expected to save 30MWe. In addition, energy management systems, both at household and industrial level, can reduce power demand. Substantial savings can be realized if the energy-intensive industry is fully engaged in energy management systems. Therefore, an investigation on the implementation of the energy management system at Lafarge Cement (Malawi), one of energy-intensive factories in Blantyre, was carried out. It is established that the company solely uses grid electricity for its factory