Charles Ajunwa
After over 40 years of operations in Nigeria, Sheraton Lagos Hotel has inaugurated a newly installed gas-powered generator and gas burners as part its long-term plans to reduce cost and be environmentally-friendly.
The event marked another significant milestone in the hotel’s commitment to operational excellence, sustainability, energy efficiency, and enhanced guest experience.
The inauguration which held at the hotel premises involved the cutting of ribbon and cake by the invited guests.
Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Ikeja Hotel Plc, the parent company, Mr. Theophilus Eniola Netufo, in his address attributed the success achieved to collaboration.
“I’m here to commend the team of Marriot for allowing us to collaborate as we started to engage with them to ensure that our operations are run cost-effectively and to take advantage of a synergy to deliver quality services and also to improve the bottom line for the benefit of the stakeholders and fund providers for this project.
“I want to particularly say, that what we have seen today is a product of joint efforts and positive collaboration between the owners and also the operators. It will go into record in this company and I’ve been here for a while that this is the first time in the history of this company that the operators and the owner will work together and achieve great results that we are having now,” he explained.
In opening remarks, General Manager, Sheraton Lagos Hotel, Martin Bredenoord, said: “The whole point, is to show our green key initiatives to be able to save on the pollution on the planet and also to join in on our Environmental protection, Social responsibility, and corporate Governance (ESG) compliance.
“We all know the rising costs of not only electricity, diesel and as well as the running costs and maintenance costs of diesel engines. The gas generator, we’ve already seen in the short time that we’ve test-run a very big drop in cost. For this gas generator, we’re looking at a 18-month return on investment from our calculations.”
According to Bredenoord, to ensure quality services to guests the hotel is also doing multiple aspects for electricity supply. “This is only one aspect. Together with this, we just installed a gas burner as well, which is also doing a big saving. Then if you’ve seen the parking area, we’ve initiated with the electricity supply company where we’re doing the electric charging stations.
“To be able to promote sustainable electricity and for people to start using sustainable vehicles as well. Another project that we’re looking into is solar electricity, which we’re looking at for the parking area and for the building. But in terms of an overall aspect, in terms of the quantity electricity supply to the building, the gas generator is the majority one because it used to be either NEPA or diesel.
“Now we are mainly running on the gas and the diesel will be on the backup supply. Then for solar, it will be a small contribution. The vehicle charging station is very small. So that will just be on the side to add additional energy saving. We are extremely thankful to the owning company, Ikeja Hotel Plc, for seeing the worth in the investment on purchasing a gas generator. The generator was purchased outright, it’s not a rental. It’s completely owned by Ikeja Hotel Plc and managed by us, Sheraton Lagos Hotel.”
Outlet Manager, Feyisayo Oluwaseyi, while giving an overview of the gas generator said it helps the environment because that’s the reason why they ventured into it.
“Because the first and most tangible benefit of this project is that it impacts our immediate environment. If we will look at it, we’ll see that it doesn’t emit as much waste as other generators do. We are all familiar with the drawback of diesel and, you know, the noise, the soot, the emission that also affects the air quality around us. For us, natural gas is fundamentally cleaner, and that’s the main reason why we went into this. By making this switch, we are significantly reducing localised pollution.
“This means that cleaner air for our guests, for our team, for the community, and that Sheraton Lagos Hotel, we are standing for something that we are part of the environment and we are supporting the environment by not emitting pollution into the air. We can say that we won’t be part of the people emitting bad air into Ikeja as a whole. Also, we are part of this community and protection of the environment is our responsibility.
“From an environmental performance standpoint, natural gas, it burns much more effectively and efficiently, and which translates directly into the massive production of our CO2 emission. We emit CO2 into the environment. It helps us as well, helps the plants, and just helps the air to be cleaner.
“This brings us to the bigger picture. Our commitment of the 2030 sustainability and sustainable energy goals. We aren’t just looking at operational efficiency. We are actively participating in the global solution for climate change. We stand for that. Every ton of CO2 we eliminate moves us closer to our sustainability targets and firmly positions us for a forward-thinking leader in the industry. This is one of our major goals, and for us bringing this to life makes a lot of meaning for us.”
