ALECTIA has carried out energy screenings on a number of laboratory and production facilities at LEO Pharma, which as an environmentally-conscious company works continuously on implementing environmentally-friendly initiatives. Almost all the energy screenings have shown CO₂ and energy-efficient changes with short payback times: In the research laboratories annual energy savings of approx. DKK 1.1 million have been realized, and in LEO Pharma’s tablet manufacturing facility the implemented energy optimization has resulted in an annual saving of approx. DKK 0.7 million.

At LEO Pharma in Ballerup 1,400 employees work every day with, among others, research and production. This requires a lot of energy – both from the employees as well as from electricity, gas and heat supply. 

LEP Pharma wants to save energy consumption in order to reduce both production costs and CO₂ emission, and therefore the company has asked ALECTIA to carry out energy screenings on a number of selected laboratory and production facilities.

A saving of almost 2 million DKK on the annual energy costs
ALECTIA’s primary focus in LEO Pharma’s research laboratories has been the ventilation plants, which typically account for 60-80% of the total energy consumption of the laboratory. The energy screening of the research laboratories has resulted in annual energy savings of approx. 2,500 MWh, similar to approx. DKK 1.1 million.

The energy screening in LEO Pharma’s tablet manufacturing facility has shown big savings potential at an operation optimization of the ventilation plants and the compressed-air plants. The savings in the tablet manufacturing facility account for approx. 40% of the total energy consumption of the tablet manufacturing facility, from before the changes were made.

Lars M. Kristensen from ALECTIA tells:

”By completing a number of energy-efficient initiatives on the tablet manufacturing facility, LEO Pharma has obtained annual energy savings of approx. 1,600 MWh – similar to a saving of DKK 0.7 million in the annual energy costs, and the projects are implemented with a payback time of approx. 2.5 years including requalification costs.

Subsidies for energy savings
It is possible to apply for subsidies at an energy utility company for implementation of energy-efficient projects. In most cases the subsidies cover all the consultancy costs for energy screenings, Basic Design and Detailed Design, and for planning, supervision and management of the implementation of the energy-efficient changes.

Svend Thygesen, project manager for energy projects in LEO Pharma’s engineering department says:

“At LEO Pharma we want to implement energy savings in order to make our research and production more environmentally friendly. It is a great advantage for LEO Pharma to work with ALECTIA, compared to traditional energy consultants. ALECTIA has energy specialists, who not only have the necessary expert knowledge within energy, but at the same time they have a thorough knowledge of the processes, needs and requirements that apply in the research laboratories as well as in the pharmaceutical GMP production. We are very satisfied with the obtained results, and then of course it is an additional bonus that the main part of the costs for ALECTIA’s consultancy has been covered by subsidies from our energy utility company.”  

The energy-efficient changes and the subsequent requalification of LEO Pharma’s GMP critical installations and functions have been planned so that the work in the laboratories and the tablet manufacturing facility was disturbed very little and without long closedowns.