Make Energy Conservation a Mass Movement: Sushilkumar Shinde

Published on December 15, 2009 by INVC   ·   6 Comments  Print This Post

Zakir Hussein,,

Shri Sushilkumar Shinde, Union Minister for Power has said that every citizen must practice energy conservation so as to make it a mass movement. Addressing a large gathering at a function to mark the National Energy Conservation Day today in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, he said that every small effort is a big step in achieving consciousness of one and all. Stating that eradication of poverty and rapid economic growth are the two most important priorities for India, the Minister noted that Energy Efficiency is a vital policy tool in our quest to promote energy efficiency as a cost effective and environmentally benign supplement to the overall energy sector strategy. He also reaffirmed the commitment of the Government to pursue a credible and sustainable national energy efficiency and conservation agenda to stimulate a market transformation in favour of energy efficient technologies and products.

Observing that enhancing energy efficiency is a major and probably the quickest effective means of our climate change mitigation measures, Shri Shinde announced that the implementation plan for the National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency prepared by Ministry of Power and the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, approved by the Prime Ministers Council on Climate Change earlier this year, will be implemented from the 1st of April, 2010. He said that in addition our international efforts are focussed on ways to accelerate the adoption of the latest energy efficiency technologies from all over the world. Shri Shinde expressed hope that the climate change negotiations that are currently going on in Copenhagen would result in a technology mechanism for this purpose.

Listing out the key features of the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE), the Minister observed that the mission seeks to upscale efforts to create a market for energy efficiency which is estimated to be around Rs. 74,000 crores. The Mission will create a conducive regulatory and policy regime to foster innovative and sustainable business models to unlock this market. As a result of the implementation of this Mission over the next five years, it is estimated that at by 2015, about 23 million tons oil-equivalent of fuel savings- in coal, gas, and petroleum products, will be achieved every year alongwith an expected avoided capacity addition of over 19,000 MW. The consequential carbon dioxide emission reduction is estimated to be 98.55 million tons annually.

Shri Shinde said that the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency seeks to implement an Action Plan based on four major initiatives. The mission will commence implementation from April, 2010. The flagship of the mission is the Perform Achieve and Trade (PAT) initiative which is a market based mechanism to enhance cost effectiveness of improvements in energy efficiency in energy-intensive large industries and facilities, through certification of energy savings that could be traded. Energy efficiency improvement targets will be set under section 14 of the Energy Conservation Act, 2001 in a manner that reflects their current energy intensity as compared to other units in the same sector, and the economic effort involved. Units that achieve savings in excess of their target will be provided the excess savings as Energy Savings Certificates. Units that underperform can buy these certificates to meet their target compliance requirements. This will ensure that the total desired savings are achieved in the most cost effective manner.

Shri Shinde also announced that the National Mission will also institute two innovative fiscal instruments namely the Partial Risk Guarantee Fund (PRGF) and Venture Capital Fund for Energy Efficiency (VCFEE). The PRGF will be a risk-sharing mechanism that will provide commercial banks with partial coverage of risk exposure against loans made for energy efficiency projects. This will reduce the risk perception of the banks towards lending for new technologies and new business models associated with energy efficiency projects. The VCFEE will ease a significant barrier from the viewpoint of risk capital availability to the ESCOs and other companies who invest in the supply of energy efficient goods and services.

In order to develop a viable ESCO industry, and also to undertake the market based implementation actions under the National Mission, the creation of a new commercial organisation named Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) was announced in November. Shri Shinde observed that EESL has since been incorporated as a Joint Venture of NTPC, PFC, REC and POWERGRID to facilitate market implementation of energy efficiency projects. EESL will work as ESCO; as Consultancy Organization for CDM, Energy Efficiency; and as a Resource Centre for capacity building of SDAs, Utilities, financial institutions, etc. EESL will also lead the market-related actions of the NMEEE. The equity of EESL will be Rs. 190 crores with equal contribution from the 4 promoters.

Recognizing the need to enhance partnership with states, BEE has conducted a study through the National Productivity Council (NPC), an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India, to estimate the electricity saving potential in key sectors of each state and UT. The study has highlighted a saving potential of 75.4 billion kWh through the implementation of energy efficiency in identified sectors. It is significant to note that this savings more than the overall national electricity deficit of 73.1 billion kWh reported during 2007-08. The study is intended to serve as a guiding factor in policy development at State level, and help in preparing actionable sector specific roadmaps. It would also form the basis of BEE’s engagement with SDAs. The study brings forth the fact that the current situation of power shortages can be significantly eased by capturing the savings possible in these areas. Most of these energy efficiency projects have payback periods between one to four years, and can yield quick results. Shri Shinde released the report on the occasion. Terming it as a landmark study, Shri Shinde said that he would write to Chief Ministers of all States to initiate action to harness this electricity savings potential in a fixed time frame.

Union Minister for Power also announced that an energy labeling programme for passenger cars will be initiated shortly to provide consumers with comparative information about fuel economy of various models in the market. Initially this programme will be voluntary. It will be expanded to cover other forms of vehicular transport in a phased manner. This program will be in line with the other labeling programs being successfully implemented for ACs, Refrigerators, tubelights, fans, Distribution transformer, etc. Preliminary estimates suggest that the combined fuel economy standards and labelling program will result in up to 20% reduction in oil use in year 2030. Given that 2 million cars are added every year, it could lead to savings of about 15 million tons of oil by 2015.

A portal on demand side management www.dsm-bee.in was also launched on the occasion.

National Awards for Energy Conservation were given away and the winners of National Painting Competition were also honoured on the occasion. Shri Bharatsinh Solanki, Minister of State for Power presided over the function. In his address, he announced that there will be a star rating scheme for buildings which house the BPOs. Shri H.S. Brahma, Secretary, Ministry of Power, Shri Rakesh Nath, Chairman, CEA, Shri Devender Singh, Joint Secretary (Power), Dr. Ajay Mathur, DG, BEE and other senior officials from the Ministry as well as luminaries from power sector were present on the occasion.

Tags:  National Energy Conservation Awards- 2009