Prospects of Energy Savings in the Jordanian Plastic Industry

With the rapid and sharp rise in energy prices in Jordan, energy cost is becoming a value that cannot be ignored in the Jordan’s industrial sector. However, there are still many practices adopted in industry that do not take energy efficiency as a prime consideration, but rather focus on immediate and direct savings in materials and machinery. This study examines potential opportunities of electrical energy savings in the Jordanian plastic industry. It demonstrates that electrical energy saving can be considered as a superior option to increase profit and competition within this sector. To achieve this purpose, detailed energy audits have been carried out for the most common plastic facilities in Jordan. An electrical energy conservation guideline is recommended and each recommendation is illustrated in terms of electrical energy savings, demand savings, cost savings, and payback period. A substantial annual electricity cost saving of 871,940 JD is reported in this study. This represents nearly 23% of the total plastic industry electricity bill with a payback period of less than 7 months. The contribution of electricity cost to the total value added can be reduced from 0.08 to 0.0616 (JD of electricity/JD of value added) if such recommendations are adopted. © 2007 Jordan Journal of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering. All rights reserved