Biscuit producer in Kosovo saves energy with new equipment

The company started as a small grocery store and developed into a leading biscuit producer in the Pejë region of Kosovo. For production it consumes electricity, diesel and LPG if there is electricity supply shortage.

To decrease energy consumption, improve quality, improve process efficiency and increase competitiveness, the company decided to invest in new equipment.

The company addressed KoSEP for financing of the investment, comprising installation of a new oven and a new biscuit production line.

The KoSEP team supported the company with analysis of the proposed technologies, in particular the potential for energy savings and financial-technical parameters of the project.

The €49,000 investment allowed the company to decrease its electricity and LPG consumption by 50 per cent amounting to €7,765 of cost savings per year. This means the investment will be repaid out of energy savings in slightly over six years, turning future cash-flows into income for years to follow. In addition, the new equipment saves 60 per cent of water consumption, which made a significant input to CO2 emission reductions of 40.3 tonnes per year.

This project demonstrates that energy efficiency investments are usually coupled with other benefits, such as process optimisation, capacity increase and other reduced costs. Therefore, it is worth checking the energy saving potential of all such investment measures, to see if they can bring additional cash-flows from the energy consumption reduction.

The EBRD, through KoSEP, supports the sustainable financing and implementation of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects by the private sector. Together, the private, residential and public sectors can make a change in energy consumption patterns and contribute to environmental protection.

This project was supported by the European Union (EU) and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.