BUSINESS
Energy Prices are Troubling
Czech Industry. Companies are Looking for Ways to
Reduce Expenditures.
Energy prices have increased exponentially over the past year. This has forced many companies to search
for ways to decrease spending in order to avoid having customers shoulder the burden of increased
production costs. “Interest in our economical solutions has grown dramatically in the past couple months.
Fortunately, for our customers, our stable supply chain will allow us to realize these projects by the end
of this year,” Vladimír Hanák, Veolia Energies business development manager, told us.
Are companies beginning to feel the effect of the
ever-increasing energy prices?
I would definitely say yes. Everyday, we receive
dozens of phone calls not only from private company
representatives, but also municipalities and healthcare
providers looking for solutions to decrease their energy
expenditures. These customers generally choose to
replace their lighting units or purchase a photovoltaic
power plant, maximizing savings, however, it would
ideally include a combination of these measures.
You mentioned that recently, your customers are
asking to have their lights replaced. What kind
of customer might be interested in this service?
Lighting unit replacement is a great solution to
essentially anyone looking to save money on lighting.
The amount of money our customers can save
depends on their current lighting system and their
operating hours. Customarily, however, our solutions
offer savings ranging from 57 to 88 percent.
Most often, we replace outdated suspended sodium
lamps with LED lighting. Certain spaces only require
the maintenance of light points and a replacement of
old lamps with new ones. We implement our solutions
on a turnkey basis, which means that we take care of
the disassembly of the old lighting system, including
ceiling cleaning, and ecological disposal of any
building materials along with the original lights.
Can your lighting replacement solutions be
implemented in a way that does not disturb production?
We always realize our projects in a way that does not
disturb the flow of production. We are flexible, which
means that we can adapt to the work schedule of any
company.
Photovoltaic power plants are another solution you
offer. Is the field of photovoltaics also experiencing
new innovations?
Yes, it is a field that is continuously being perfected. For
example, we offer solar panels that turn their photovoltaic
cells towards the sun, thereby following the sun’s
path throughout the entire day and increasing energy
production efficiency. We also provide double-sided
panels that are installed on a special type of foil that reflects
incoming sunlight. This solution also helps increase the
power plant’s efficiency. Furthermore, solar panels no
longer have to only be located on the roof of a building,
they can now also be mounted on walls, perpendicular
to the ground. This offers great future potential for
agrophotovotaics on farmland or hydrophotovoltaics. We
are able to include these new technologies in any of our
project proposals because we are working with a dozen
of the largest global photovoltaic panel producers.
What does the financing of these ecological projects
look like?
As far as lighting replacement is concerned, making
use of so-called energetics services with guaranteed
savings, also known as EPCs (Energy Performing
Contracts), is becoming increasingly popular.
The advantage of this particular solution is that
the investment is paid off from the savings themselves,
meaning that the supplier contractually guarantees
them. This way, companies are not compelled to make
a large one-time investment, which they might have
had to cover by taking out a loan.
When installing a new photovoltaic power plant,
customers can make use of the National Recovery Plan
grant program, which covers 35 percent of eligible
costs, and half of the expenses for battery storage on
top of that. Needless to say that we offer our customers
an order-made overview of their grant options as well
as an analysis and recommendation of whether asking
for the grant will be worthwhile for them.
What other services do you offer within the scope of
your projects?
We essentially offer a complete turnkey implementation
of our solutions. We aid our clients in gathering the
necessary information for savings calculations and
project proposals, we take care of any necessary
documentation for the building permit, we assist with
connecting the new system to the electrical grid and
with getting approval from the fire department. We
also offer post-warranty service, or even energetics
management. One of our great advantages is
the fact that we employ a stable team of experts and
constructors, which means that the realizations of our
projects do not experience needless delays.
Mr Hanák, thank you for the interview.
Text a foto:
Veolia Energie
ČR, a.s.
POSITIV 3/2022 ǀ 31