Nam Dinh Forest Products Joint Stock Company is one of four enterprises selected to participate in the Voluntary Agreement on Energy Efficiency in Energy Intensive Industries (VAS), as part of The Danish Energy Partnership Programme from 2020-2025.
 
Nam Dinh Forest Products Joint Stock Company (NAFOCO) was established in 1991, specializing in the production of wooden goods for consumer use. Since 2007, NAFOCO has partnered with IKEA to manufacture wood products, becoming the first and only enterprise in Nam Dinh province to export wooden products abroad.

To increase profits and reduce production costs, NAFOCO continuously strives to innovate and invest in energy-saving solutions, aiming for efficient and economical energy use during production.

Mr. Le Minh Tuan, a technical officer at Nam Dinh Forestry Products Joint Stock Company, shared that to save energy, the company has implemented measures to improve its boilers, such as installing water heater, air dryer, insulating the main steam supply pipes to the consumption loads, and reducing condensate in the steam pipes, which helps increase boiler efficiency and save fuel.

In the drying kilns, the company has been adjusting the wood drying process and equipment usage to reduce electricity consumption during the drying process. Additionally, the company has replaced its lighting system with energy-saving LED lights.

Mr. Tuan noted: "In 2022, the company consumed over 15 million kWh of electricity, of which 5.5 million kWh was used for the drying kilns (boilers, fans), accounting for 35% of the total.” However, this result still does not meet the company's energy efficiency requirements. While the demand for wood-drying is increasing, the technologies used in the kilns and production are not yet standardized."

In 2023, the company joined the VAS under the framework of The Danish Energy Partnership Programme from 2020-2025. The goal is to improve energy efficiency for the company in the future.

During the survey and work session with the Vietnam-Denmark expert team, Mr. Henrik Nielson, a representative of the Danish Energy Agency, said that Nam Dinh Forest Products Joint Stock Company has initially applied measures to enhance energy efficiency, especially by using leftover wood and sawdust as boiler fuel, replacing coal and oil. However, since the company uses old boilers, energy-saving efforts are still not optimal. Therefore, applying new technologies and considering boiler upgrades would help create better energy-saving solutions, allowing the company to use less waste wood.

The survey and support from experts helped Nam Dinh Forestry Products Joint Stock Company find the most suitable method to optimize energy consumption, contributing to sustainable production efficiency.

Currently, alongside production and expanding its product market, NAFOCO continues to upgrade and replace old machinery to save electricity consumption. The company also strengthens communication to raise awareness among staff and workers about actively saving electricity during production and business activities.

According to research conducted by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Vietnam, the wood processing industry could reduce energy demand by 10.4% compared to the business-as-usual scenario by implementing efficient and economical energy use measures.