Romanian chicken farmer modernises production, climate and lighting systems

Avicola Găeşti is a poultry company producing eggs in Dragodana village, Dambovita County. The production volume of its two plants is 26 million of eggs per year.

The company decided to modernise its production facilities and energy efficiency was an integral component of this strategy. Therefore, Avicola Găeşti addressed EEFF for affordable financing of the project.

The EEFF team carried out an energy assessment of the production facility, verified the energy saving potential of the investment measures, their profitability, and other environmental aspects.

The final project included replacement of ventilation and cooling systems, introduction of a low-energy lighting system, replacement of the egg collection and air inlets systems, upgrade of the feeding and feed transportation systems, and replacement of incubators and hatchers with new and energy efficient ones.

The investment of €1.3 million allowed the company to decrease its energy consumption by 446 MWh per year (63%). In other words, to produce one million eggs the company now consumes not 27.4 MWh, but 10.2 MWh – a significant difference which is also felt when paying the monthly energy bill. The investment will be repaid from energy savings very soon, leaving the positive cash-flow for years to come. In addition, the company created a better working environment for its employees and for the hens, resulting in increased production by 33 per cent.

This project demonstrates that replacement of production equipment can lead to energy savings and other benefits, translated into increased margins and profits. Therefore, it is worth checking the energy saving potential of possible investment measures to choose the most profitable and attractive investment.