PM Commissions Best Dressed Chicken’s LNG Plant

Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, has commended Best Dressed Chicken on the investment in the installation of a Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) Cogeneration Plant, which will boost efficiency in the company’s operations.
Holness noted that the poultry producer, which is a division of the Jamaica Broilers Group, has now secured for itself greater energy efficiency. “It means that they are far more insulated from the volatility of international shocks in the energy market, which would be chiefly responsible for any unpredictable rise in the price of chicken,” he said. He further pointed to the cost savings from converting LNG into energy.
“The company saves quite a bit relative to what they would pay JPS (Jamaica Public Service) or what their original costs would be using heavy fuel oils. It also gives them the opportunity to use the same energy to generate electricity and to generate steam,” Dr. Holness pointed out. Group President and Chief Executive Officer, Christopher Levy, shared that it is an important investment, aimed at making the company more competitive and its products more affordable.
Levy added that the new LNG plant will offer a multi-tiered return on investment for the company. “The chicken plant uses a lot of steam. That steam is collected from the exhaust heat of the energy and that exhaust heat goes through what is called a heat recovery boiler and produces steam. So, we don’t burn any other energy at this plant. We burn energy once and right now it’s gas and that produces all the steam that we need, hot water that we need, electricity that we need,” he explained.
The increased energy efficiency and self-generation capabilities from the LNG cogeneration plant are expected to further lower the company’s utility expenses, reducing production costs and improving operating margins—developments that could positively impact future earnings and enhance price competitiveness in the local and export markets.

(Sources: JIS & NCBCM Research)