Chimei Innolux Corp. has won a Corporate Energy Conservation Excellence Award presented by the Ministry of Economic Affairs for the success of its energy-saving efforts.
Chimei Innolux was the only enterprise among the 30 schools and businesses announced by the MOEA Sept. 27 as winners of this year’s awards.
The ministry said it selected Chimei Innolux because of its outstanding achievements in cutting energy consumption over the past three years.
Hsu Shu-fu, head of Chimei Innolux’s operations in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan County, said the company’s seven factory buildings in the park saved roughly NT$1.5 billion (US$47.66 million) on their electricity bills last year.
“It is by no means a matter of luck that our company has been chosen for the award,” he said.
Chimei Innolux has been active on several fronts in working to protect the environment, including planting tens of thousands of trees in the Tree Valley Park, an LCD industrial facility located to the west of the Southern Taiwan Science Park.
According to Hsu, the global financial tsunami two years ago was a major turning point in putting Chimei on the road to stronger energy conservation and carbon reduction.
Facing tens of billions of New Taiwan dollars in losses as a result of decreasing orders, the company had to find ways to cut its costs, with energy-saving measures being its only real option, he said.
Nevertheless, the need to cut energy and reduce carbon emissions presented certain dilemmas for the company. For example, Hsu explained, following through on carbon cutting measures for the factories’ clean rooms would alter temperatures and moisture levels, thereby impacting the yield rate.
At that time, the company’s production and financial divisions got into heated arguments every single day over energy-conservation measures, Hsu said.
In the end, Wang Jyh-chau, president of the company, instructed staff to research and develop solutions to the dilemma. Besides developing a new production process that reduced carbon emissions, the company installed energy-saving T5 lamps, as well as LED emergency lights and solar panels on the factories’ roofs.
“No stone was left unturned in trying to find ways to lower carbon emissions and cut energy consumption in order to reduce the company’s overall costs,” Hsu said.
