Al Ezz Dekheila Steel Company (EZDK) is one of the world leading iron and steel manufacturers and they are located in El Dekheila in Alexandria. With UNIDO IEE’s support, EZDK is the first iron and steel company in Egypt to become ISO 50001 certified. This achievement is attained through strong partnership with IEE project in Egypt, financed by the GEF and implemented by the UNIDO in cooperation with Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Industry, Trade Small and Medium Enterprises and the Federation of Egyptian Industries.
EZDK has reviewed and analyzed its energy consumption and production data from 2011 to 2014, which allowed to identify the key areas for improving their energy performance. EZDK has worked with an approach of not to overlook any saving opportunity neither big nor small. Based on this approach, the company has identified twenty-seven energy saving opportunities varying from no investment to high investment costs. An action plan was developed for the implementation of these opportunities over a period of three years and today some of them have already been implemented.
Through a systematic energy performance monitoring mechanism compliant with ISO 50001, EZDK was able to measure the impact of these interventions and make sure they have achieved the desired estimated savings. The company has worked on reducing consumption of both electricity and natural gas, which have resulted in very significant savings that have improved the company’s competitiveness as well as reduced its negative environmental impact.
The close cooperation between UNIDO IEE project and EZDK team that was demonstrated in EZDK’s staff attending UNIDO EnMS User and Expert trainings as well as cooperation on site between EZDK staff and UNIDO consultants’ has proven that it is possible to have a very smooth and fast implementation of a structured energy management system compliant with ISO 50001. EZDK and UNIDO were able to collect, analyze and document all the EnMS data and implementing energy saving measure in a period less than a year from the beginning until certification. This was only possible due to EZDK top management’s commitment to improving the company’s energy performance and reducing hence carbon footprint.