ISC & EESL Partnership Plans to Save 66.5 MkWh of Energy

The Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC), an independent US-based non-profit organization, and Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a joint-venture company under India’s Ministry of Power, have completed another successful year of collaboration on National Motor Replacement Program (NMRP). Institute for Sustainable Communities has been an active partner to EESL right from the conceptualization and in the implementation of the NMRP Program, and is currently jointly executing a project called the Energy Efficiency Alliance for Industry (E2 Alliance) Project in Asia.  The project aims at increasing industrial energy efficiency in India through the accelerated adoption of more efficient motors.

The Indian industrial sector consumes 40% of the total electricity, of which 60% can be attributed to electric motors. Since there is still a large stock of low-efficiency motors in operation in the industry and given the predominance of motors in industrial processes, improving the energy efficiency of installed motor systems is a key way of increasing industrial technical efficiency. Since its launch, the E2 Alliance has enabled 6,520 motor replacements, and created a pipeline of 48,818 motor replacements. The Alliance is looking forward to unlocking the energy saving potential of 66.5 MkWh by replacing old inefficient motors, which is equivalent to USD 62 million annually. To date USD 7.3 million worth of energy has been saved.

Vivek Adhia, Country Director – India at ISC said, “There are limited business models that can effectively support the industries to undertake the replacement of the lower efficiency motors with higher-efficiency ones, and we with E2 Alliance are addressing this barrier. Promotion and awareness of energy saving and energy efficiency technologies in the industries will result in improved energy security and reduction in  GHGs emissions.”

The government made it mandatory to use IE2 class of motors effective October 2017, with a mission of replacing old and inefficient motors with IE3 class energy-efficient motors. However, there is still a large stock of low-efficiency motors in operation in the Indian industries that are of IE1 efficiency rating or below. ISC and Energy Efficiency Services Limited are taking it one notch higher to IE3 level (as the international markets are at IE3 level now), and are targeting IE4 by 2023. This will not only improve the productivity of the industries, but also save energy and reduce GHG emission.

Large enterprises to small and medium enterprises are benefitting under the NMRP. Industries including Mahindra & Mahindra, Banswara Syntex, Tarapur Industrial Manufacturer Association and many more have upgraded to IE3 motors under this program. To date E2 Alliance has achieved a greenhouse gas emission reduction of 54,535 MTCO2. The desired goal is to reduce 4,62,864 MTCO2 in a year.  It began with empaneling smaller ESCOs as demand aggregators, and training them on business models, and different project modalities for industry participation, and other technical aspects.

Furthermore, with the aim to engage more stakeholders, ISC is facilitating a series of knowledge exchange webinars and focused group discussions for the corporate groups, factory units, SMEs, and cluster associations across the country to accelerate industrial energy-efficiency and address their queries related to the program. Since creating awareness is the key to rope-in as many companies as possible, the alliance engaged actively with leading industry associations, state-designated agencies, and demand aggregators including Uttar Pradesh New & Renewable Energy Development Agency (UPNEDA) and Confederation of Indian Industries (CII).

The alliance is also sharing its best practices, and the E2 business model with the emerging economies in South-Asia and South-East Asia with an objective of replicating its success in the region. ISC recently conducted an industrial energy efficiency opportunities assessment covering Indonesia, Vietnam, and Bangladesh, and is pursuing partnerships to replicate the model in these geographies Webinars, focused group discussions, and stakeholder meetings are under progress to advance the E2 Alliance objectives in these geographies.