Marketplace Today Blog

PepsiCo International has chosen to install technology from Orion Energy Systems of Manitowoc at its Nanchang, China, and Santiago, Chile, facilities — projects that will reduce energy waste and associated energy costs.

The projects are the first for Orion in China and Chile. In addition to the approximately 130 Pepsi facilities in North America that Orion has completed, Orion has installed its technology in a Pepsi foods group facility in Curitiba, Brazil.

Klaus Pilz of Orion’s business development group said the projects were spurred by Pepsi’s environmental sustainability initiative that includes reducing its water consumption, utilizing sustainable packaging, and decreasing its energy consumption worldwide.

“The decision by Pepsi to deploy our energy-saving technology at its China and Chile facilities validates its superior performance and Pepsi’s commitment to improving the environment worldwide,” said Orion’s CEO Neal Verfuerth. “After having completed more than 130 facilities in the United States, their decision to install our technology abroad confirms Pepsi’s confidence in our technology and services.”

At both facilities, Orion is installing its high-intensity fluorescent, Compact Modular lighting technology, which is designed to reduce energy waste by 50 percent while providing 50 percent more light than traditional, high-intensity discharge lighting.

A field test at the Nanchang, China site verified that Orion’s technology delivers increased lighting and decreased operating costs when compared to high-intensity discharge lighting.

Had the facility chosen HID lighting, the bottling plant would have wasted approximately 202,000 kilowatt-hours a year.

As a result of the energy savings, the Pepsi facility will keep more than 2,650 tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere during the life of the technology. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the carbon dioxide savings is the air-scrubbing equivalent of a 37-acre forest or removing 33 cars from the road. The savings also is the equivalent of saving 16,675 gallons of gasoline a year.

In Santiago, Chile, Orion’s technology is expected to reduce the facility’s lighting-related energy consumption and costs by approximately 68 percent. As a result of installing the energy-saving technologies, the facility will decrease its electricity consumption by 228,720 kilowatt-hours, from nearly 335,000 kilowatt-hours to about 106,000 kilowatt-hours.

The reduction in electricity use means the facility will help curb carbon dioxide emissions by more than 3,000 tons over the life of Orion’s technology, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. In addition, the retrofit will help keep more than 12 tons of sulfur dioxide and nearly 4½ tons of nitrogen oxides from entering the atmosphere.

The greenhouse gas reductions are the air-scrubbing equivalent of a 42-acre forest or removing 37 cars from the road, according to the EPA. The reduction also is the environmental equivalent of saving about 19,000 gallons of gasoline a year.

Orion’s technology has reduced Pepsi’s overall energy consumption by more than 74.2 million kilowatt-hours, reducing its carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 48,700 tons, according to the EPA. That’s the air-scrubbing equivalent of a 13,600-acre forest or like removing more than 12,000 cars from the road.