Acushnet Company, which is comprised of the Titleist, FootJoy and Cobra Golf brands, was named the recipient of the first Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) “Beacon for Energy” award.
DOER Commissioner Philip Giudice presented the clean energy leadership certificate to the Acushnet Cogeneration Design Team at Titleist's Ball Plant II in North Dartmouth, Mass.
Acushnet was recognized for its advancements and improvements in energy utilization and obtaining electric power from alternative sources such as cogeneration, the onsite production of Combined Heat and Power (CHP). Acushnet is the first approved Alternate Energy Portfolio Standard (APS) facility to qualify for CHP, creating Alternative Energy Credits (AECs) under the Massachusetts APS program.
Under the Green Communities Act passed last year, Massachusetts established an APS to promote lower greenhouse gas emissions and create new market opportunities for businesses and institutions in the energy technology and renewables sector.
“We entered into this initiative as part on an ongoing energy efficiency program,” said Hank Conaty, Senior Director of Golf Ball Engineering and Technology, Acushnet Company. “This initiative represents a large investment in sustainable energy technology to reduce our energy consumption and our carbon footprint resulting in an effective reduction in energy costs in our golf ball manufacturing plant. With Nexant's help, we are now improving the investment paybacks on Acushnet's alternative energy projects.”
“Acushnet is demonstrating the type of leadership we all need to consider as the Commonwealth advances along the path toward a clean energy future,” Commissioner Giudice said, noting that the CHP unit enables Acushnet to generate the same amount of energy for heat and electric power at the golf ball plant using 61 percent less fuel than before. “By making use of heat energy that traditionally has been wasted, cogen plants such as this make companies more efficient and help them to grow. Under Massachusetts's new Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard, we expect to see many more companies follow Acushnet's lead.”
Acushnet retained clean energy experts Nexant to help qualify the cogeneration system at Titleist Ball Plant II and transact the resulting AECs in the state marketplace. In addition to receiving the “Beacon for Energy” certificate from the Massachusetts DOER, Acushnet also received a check for $300,000 from Nexant, which represents the proceeds from sales of AECs created next year.
