Business Awards 2018

8 LATIN AMERICA NEWS / Business Awards 2018 , Heat & Power Systems Best in Thermal Energy Project Development 2018 For more than 19 years, Heat & Power Systems, S.A. de C.V. has beenworking to save thermal energy across a variety of industries. We spoke to Alberto Álvarez to gain an insight into the solutions the firmprovides and how far it has come over the years. Since inception, Heat & Power has worked alongside its clients to be a trusted provider of solutions for energy saving. It has achieved phenomenal success since the beginning, as Alberto highlights in his opening comments. “When we first started, Heat & Power Systems was committed to designing and installing boiler economizers. Our idea was relatively simple; take the hot combustion gases and heat the feed water to the boiler. With few local temperature sensors, we measured the efficiency of the equipment. The design of a two-stage economizer supplied to the company Sabritas (Fritolay) of Pepsico, to heat the boiler water and process water, won the First Place in the National Thermal Energy Saving Contest, promoted by the Secretariat of Energy in 2004. “Later we expanded our market and scope of our projects by recovering the residual heat of the exhaust gases in biscuit ovens, potato fryers, engines and gas turbines. We used the recovered energy to heat water or process air that implied a fundamental change, we no longer limited ourselves to the boiler house, now we intervened the processes, which required a high degree of instrumentation, control and automation. We were already working on big projects and had achieved great success. “Then, in 2012 we started the implementation of projects to replace the use of steam by hot water systems in processes where hot water or air is required at temperatures below 90 ºC, with savings of 30 to 35% of fuel. This meant a radical change to stop using steam as the main source of heating in industries. Nestlé’s ice cream plant was the first experience of replacing the boilers with a hot water system and experiencing the fuel savings. Later the project was replicated in its Cheese plant. In a Gamesa (cookies factory) of Pepsico, we substitute the use of steam with a hybrid project, the recovery of heat from the cookie ovens and the installation of water heaters for industrial use. For Gamesa it also involved the first plant that operated without boilers. Other companies that have replaced the use of steam by hot water systems are Unilever in four of its plants in Mexico and Petstar (the largest food grade PET recycling company). “Today, we are in the process of implementing projects where the recovered heat, in the form of vapours, hot water or hot gases, is transformed into chilled water to replace the electricity used in electric chillers. The Sabritas plants will be the first to implement these projects, with the interest of doing so in other plants in Latin America. The factors for which Heat & Power is successful can be summarized in its degree of innovation, the trust that our customers have in us and the committed team of collaborators that we have. We also recognize the people who believed in us and gave us their unconditional support in difficult times.” With the future stretched ahead of it, Heat & Power Systems has big plans to grow throughout the Latin America region and build upon its current achievements, as Alberto is proud to conclude. “Looking ahead, there is a large potential market for energy savings in Latin America. We have the advantage that the counterpart of our clients has influence from Mexico on the sustainability issues of the plants installed in Latin America, and they have considered us to replicate projects in countries such as Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic, among others. “Currently, the response to energy saving systems in these countries is very favourable, so we are working to find the best ways to participate in these markets, for example using global suppliers for all of the heavy equipment, and executing projects with local companies. Our plan in the medium term is to start our participation in the Latin American market, taking the first steps in this direction to ensure that we continue to provide our award-winning services and solutions whilst at the same time growing our business to support a wider range of clients.” Nov18625 Company: Heat & Power Systems Name: Alberto Álvarez Address: Av. Insurgentes Sur 600-401, Col. Del Valle Norte, 03103, CDMX, México Telephone Number: +521 55 5523 9968 Website: www.heat.com.mx E-mail: [email protected] / [email protected]