A Junta de Andalucía incentive programme for energy efficiency in industry has supported 300 projects, generating total investment of more than €290 million. The initiatives received €66.6 million in grants administered by the Andalusian Energy Agency, an entity attached to the Regional Ministry of Universities, Industry, Energy and Innovation. The programme is aimed at small, medium-sized and large industrial companies, with the goal of cutting CO₂ emissions and strengthening the sustainability and competitiveness of the region’s productive sector.
Projects included replacing pumping equipment at wastewater treatment plants with more efficient units; recovering waste heat in the chemical industry; installing new injection-moulding machines in plastics manufacturing; replacing process machinery and refrigeration systems in food production; and improving energy use in wood pressing, metalworking, aerospace, cement and olive-pomace oil extraction.
Among the projects were five measures carried out by Destilaciones Bordas Chinchurreta SA in Dos Hermanas, Seville. The company, which extracts and markets aromatic plants, makes fruit derivatives and synthesises chemicals for fragrances, invested €1.9 million and received €446,133 in grants. It reported annual electricity savings of more than one million kilowatt-hours after modernising wastewater treatment, upgrading citrus-juice and purée packaging and storage with an ultra-high-temperature (UHT) aseptic sterilisation and filling process, and updating citrus-processing equipment, including mechanising fruit peeling.
Votorantim Cementos España SA invested €927,000 in three projects at its Niebla plant in Huelva province, receiving more than €225,500 in public support. The company said the upgrades, including digital technologies and new equipment, cut electricity use by more than 5.1 million kilowatt-hours a year and avoided more than 22,500 tonnes of CO₂ emissions annually, in addition to other energy savings.
At its Santaella facility in Córdoba province, frozen-vegetable producer Gelagri Ibérica SL invested more than €932,200 to upgrade its blanching and freezing line. It received a €203,991 grant and reported annual electricity savings of more than 523,000 kilowatt-hours, lower natural-gas use and more than 2,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions avoided each year.
Other projects included three cooling-system upgrades at plastics manufacturer Sotrafa SA in El Ejido, Almería province, supported by €130,163 in grants; improvements to cooling towers at Indorama Ventures Química SLU in San Roque, Cádiz province, supported by €125,186; and manufacturing-line upgrades at Grupo Puertas T.H.T. in Antequera, Málaga province, which received nearly €100,000 in grants. The companies reported annual electricity savings of more than 1.4 million, 1.68 million and 463,325 kilowatt-hours, respectively.
The programme also supported energy-efficiency measures at Grupo Alvic FR Mobiliario SL factories in Alcaudete and La Carolina, Jaén province, and the replacement of three plastic injection machines at Fernández Montiel SL in Alhama de Granada. The companies reported annual energy savings of 1,732,224 and 1,977,216 kilowatt-hours, respectively. Fernández Montiel said the new machines cut energy use by nearly 56% without reducing production capacity.
The industrial energy-efficiency programme for small and medium-sized businesses and large companies was funded through the National Energy Efficiency Fund and the 2014–2020 European Regional Development Fund Operational Programme.