EP100 Member Case StudyThai Union Group
Drying fish with recovered heat to save energy, Thai Union prides itself on being on the frontline of innovation, setting the bar for sustainable business growth.
Thai Union is one of the world’s largest seafood companies, selling frozen and canned seafood products under a wide range of popular brands. It was the first business to join EP100 from the food and beverage sector, pledging to double energy productivity by 2041 (from 2016).
To date, energy efficiency projects have included:
- lowering electricity use in refrigeration
- switching to a more efficient water heating system
- replacing kilns and cookers with modern models
- implementing heat recovery to dry fish in smoking cells
- improvements to energy management systems at factories in Asia, Europe and the US
"We know that there is still a lot more that we need to do, but each step we take gives us confidence that we are on the right pathway. Investing in energy productivity and clean cooling today is setting us up for success over the long term."
Dr Darian McBain, Global Director, Corporate Affairs and Sustainability, Thai Union Group
There have been significant environmental benefits. Between 2016 and 2019 Thai Union reduced its energy use by 17% and lowered its emissions by 18%.
In future, Thai Union plans to focus on reducing emissions from steam production and cooling, which together is expected to make up around 60% of its carbon footprint. As part of the EP100 Cooling Challenge, the company is committed to exploring the energy efficiency recommendations from ASHRAE site audits, including:
- Strengthening operational controls to optimise energy consumption in existing design e.g. finetuning pressure settings for the cooling system and setting operational standards to manage energy loss
- Integrating smarter energy use into the design of future facilities and equipment, e.g. variable-frequency drives (VFD) for condenser fans, fanless evaporation condensers