RED Stripe plans to further cut its energy cost some 22 per cent by early 2016 by switching to liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The beer manufacturer already slashed its energy cost by just under half when it fired up its combined heat and power plant (CHP) in March.

That plant currently uses liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and produces electricity at US$0.23 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) compared to the US$0.43 per kWh it paid for energy from the national grid.

Over the next 12 to 18 months, the $750-million dual- energy plant will be converted to run on LNG, Red Stripe’s Managing Director Cedric Blair told the Jamaica Observer.

The local brewer has already started discussions with a natural gas company out of the United States to supply them with the commodity.

Currently, “the US does not ship LNG to non-NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) countries, but we are working with a supplier who has applied for and secured a licence to ship to us,” said the managing director. “In order for us to complete globally, we have to be able to make the kind of cost that are internationally competitive.

“When our inputs to manufacturing is so high it is impossible for us to compete globally.”

The exploration of alternative energy sources form only one part of the Diageo-owned company’s drive to improve its manufacturing efficiency.

Over the last five years, the company has spent just over US$5 million re-tooling its facility. It is projected that by the end of this year the company would have spent $1.7 billion in its efforts to modernise the plant, effectively equalling that which was spent in 2013.

The beer manufacturer recently installed seven new cylindrical vessels that will serve as fermenters, storage and maturation tanks.

These tanks “use less electricity to make beer, it takes less time and less water, and that makes it competitive to export beer around the world,” Blair said.

Unlike some of Red Stripe’s traditional cellars, which have to be installed in an enclosed building, these new tanks can be installed outdoor, which effectively eliminate the need to cool the building, the tank and the product, which amounts to significant savings in the cost of energy he said.

— Terron Dewar