Q&A: Innovating to improve energy efficiency and lower operational emissions
Addressing the great energy challenge is an ongoing journey for COFCO International. As a business with multiple assets in diverse regions, we are continuously striving to find effective solutions to reduce our energy use, save costs and lower our GHG emissions, in line with our climate strategy. Innovation is central to this equation.
Here, our Global Asset Management Director, Yongjun Li, explains how adopting high technology innovations and best practice is helping us to improve our operational energy efficiency, as we make progress on this journey. This includes optimising our use of renewable energy in our sugar operations, and investing in multiple improvements within our Brazil and Argentina operations. He also considers the importance of leveraging advanced technology and tailored solutions, as we seek to overcome the most complex energy reduction challenges.
Understanding our operational energy use
Our main energy sources - The majority of the energy we use in our operations is derived from fuel combustion. We primarily use bagasse, a by-product of sugarcane processing, as well as natural gas, soybean and sunflower husks and hulls and wood chips.
How we use energy - We combust fuel to generate heat or steam for industrial processes, and to dry products. These fuels are also used to generate electricity on-site for a variety of uses, including pumps.
Why is improving energy efficiency in COFCO International’s operations important?
Energy consumption accounts for 95% of our assets’ Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions and more than 10% of our operational expenditure, and with energy costs rising, lowering emissions and costs is an important focus within our assets. By addressing energy efficiency, we are taking action on climate-related risks and opportunities across our operations, helping to reduce operational GHG emissions in line with our science-based targets, while saving costs. All of this strengthens our resilience, particularly in regions where our assets may be at greater risk of climate impacts and energy costs may be higher.
How are you promoting and incentivising energy efficiency across COFCO’s operations?
We invest in energy efficiency measures every year to help us improve our use of natural resources. At all our major industrial assets, we have established local energy committees, supported by our Global Asset Management team, to identify, assess, prioritise and implement energy-saving opportunities. We seek to ensure that every project will deliver clear financial returns, generally through reduced fuel and electricity costs.
Beyond this, we share best practice across our assets globally, as appropriate. Within our Brazil, Argentina and South Africa grains and oilseeds assets, we have performed an analysis of processes and heat flows, identifying where energy-saving equipment could be deployed and calculating potential savings.
Could you share any examples of advanced, innovative technology in which you’ve invested or other best practices?
We have taken multiple steps to leverage technology and improve energy efficiency in 2025. For example, we have invested in a high efficiency boiler upgrade at our Catanduva sugar mill in Brazil. Our sugar operations represent the greatest share of our industrial energy consumption, yet they also present a key opportunity for efficiency, as they are largely powered by renewable bioenergy. This has improved overall energy efficiency at one of our largest assets, lowering steam consumption and water use and improving heat recovery, while also contributing to maintaining 94.7% renewable energy use across our sugar operations.
Elsewhere, in Argentina, we have introduced a new system to recover flash steam generated during the processing cycle at our Timbúes plant. Reducing steam and energy losses help to improve thermal efficiency, lower operating costs and improve water efficiency. The initiative contributes to a broader programme that has enabled 17% efficiency improvements across our grains and oilseeds assets annually, with estimated costs savings of up to US$3.8 million.
Meanwhile, we have reduced energy use at our Saforcada plant in Argentina by installing a new pellet mill, which has enabled us to make a more efficient use of sunflower husks and soybean hulls for cogeneration.
To further reduce GHG emissions and lower our reliance on purchased electricity, we have also installed solar panels at our assets in South Africa, India and Argentina, with a combined solar capacity of 1,179 KW. Meanwhile, at our new Santos Port terminal, we are lowering emissions by prioritising more sustainable modes of transport in the operation of the terminal, with fewer trucks circulating on the roads.
How will you move ahead on energy efficiency in the future?
In 2025, we exceeded our annual target to procure at least 85% of our operational energy needs from renewable sources. We will continue to prioritise energy efficiency where we stand to create the greatest impact, particularly within our industrial processing assets (grains and oilseeds, sugar and refining), steam and heat generation systems, and transport and distribution.
In particular, we will build on our existing analysis to focus investment on processes with the highest energy intensity, and areas that hold the greatest potential for improvement. Importantly, we will ensure that energy efficiency sits at the heart of our investment decisions, making it a core component of capital allocation decisions. We will also replicate and scale particularly successful initiatives within relevant assets, and leverage digital and advanced analytics to create further energy efficiency gains.
Why will this become more challenging, and how will you ensure that you’re identifying effective solutions?
With many of the high-impact measures (such as equipment upgrades, insulation and lighting changes) already addressed, we are now left with types of operational energy consumption that are more challenging to address. We may need to invest more in technically advanced solutions to substantially change certain processes. Meanwhile, we are also navigating the complexity of working in multiple geographies with emerging regulation and varying energy mixes, across diverse assets, each at a different stage in its life cycle.
Our local energy committees will play an important role in building momentum on this journey, helping to ensure that we tailor solutions to each site, as efficiency improvements move further into core production systems (including heat integration, steam balancing and process redesign). Together, they will leverage evidence-based insights to make strategic decisions where it matters most, with a keen focus on scalability and replication.
We will continue to share best practice and collaborate within our industry and beyond to identify the most efficient solutions. As we move ahead, we will also expand our focus beyond operations to include logistics and transport, building on our recent projects to achieve more significant advances.
