core sector communique

Energy Efficiency

The Union Minister of State for Power, Shri K.C.Venugopal, informed Lok Sabha today in a written reply that the Government has undertaken several initiatives to improve energy efficiency and conservation in the country. These include Energy Efficiency in Commercial Buildings; Standards & Labeling of Appliances (S&L); Bachat Lamp Yojana (BLY); Demand Side Management in Agriculture /Municipalities (AgMuDSM); Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Large Industries; Capacity Building of State Designated Agencies (SDAs); and National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE). The scheme on providing financial assistance to the SDAs for strengthening their institutional capacities and capabilities was taken up during the Eleventh Plan. The major activities for which financial support was provided included: • Annual Action Plan which includes creation of database for Energy Managers / Energy Auditors / Designated Consumers, organizing training programmes / workshops, awareness campaigns etc. • Demonstration projects on energy efficient street lighting, revamping of drinking water pumping system and energy efficiency in SME cluster. • Investment Grade Energy Audit of Government Buildings. • Converting the existing incandescent bulbs of households and street lights of a village into LED. The above scheme was further supplemented by Contribution to State Energy Conservation Fund (SECF) Scheme, under which the following activities were undertaken:- • Preparation of sector specific energy savings plan of the State. • Preparation of Detailed Project Report on Waste Heat Recovery for identified 20 industries including SMEs & large industries in the State. • Implementation of one or two demonstration projects on Waste Heat Recovery. The Minister further said that all the schemes being implemented by Bureau of Energy Efficiency are regularly monitored by Ministry of Power (MoP) and the various Committees attached to it, namely, Management Advisory Committee and Governing Council. The schemes are also monitored through quarterly/yearly report by the MoP. The energy savings are also verified by the third party i.e. National Productivity Council. Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) scheme has been launched recently. Under this Scheme, in the 8 industrial sectors, 478 designated consumers (DCs) have been notified on 30th March, 2012. These DCs are required to get the energy audit conducted on mandatory basis under Section 14(i) of the Energy Conservation Act which is yet to be notified.