All decks are being cleared to launch by April 2011 a scheme to assign energy efficiency improvement targets to India’s most energy-intensive industrial units under the Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change.
Called the “Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) scheme”, announced under the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEE), it is among the steps the country is planning on climate mitigation. It aims to fix specific energy consumption (SEC) targets for large energy-guzzling installations. Energy Saving Certificates, or ESCerts, will be issued to those exceeding their performance goals. The credits could be sold to those who fail to meet the goals.
Ajay Mathur, director general of the Bureau of Energy efficiency (BEE), the mission implementing agency, said they were at the stage of consultation with industry. There are three main issues being discussed — “How do we measure? How do we set targets and how will the trading be done?” he added.
At this stage, BEE is not planning one single benchmark. Industry will be allowed to gradually become more energy-efficient from their present levels.
“There is no magic benchmark that everyone will have to reach. Industries will need to improve their energy efficiency by a certain percentage,” he said. The BEE has identified 714 energy-intensive installations in nine sectors — power stations, cement, steel, fertilisers, aluminium, chlor-alkali, paper, textiles and railways. The scheme is limited to energy efficiency targets, and does not cover other sources of carbon emissions.
Industry sources said it was too early to discuss the impact, as the institutional framework was under discussion.
More From This Section
Executive Director at The Energy and Resources Institute, Leena Srivastava, said: “In principle, it is good. We will need to see how it is operationalised. There are other methods that can be more effective and need to be explored.”
India has committed to 20-25 per cent carbon emission intensity cuts by 2020 on the 2005 levels. This would be done through a series of measures which include bringing in better energy efficiency standards, among others. NMEE is expected to enable about Rs 75,000 crore worth of transactions in energy efficiency. By 2015, it is envisaged that it will help save about 5 per cent of annual energy consumption and nearly 100 million tonnes of carbon dioxide every year.
While the scheme would cover mostly the energy-intensive big industry, BEE has separate plans for small and medium industry. It is working with clusters of small and medium industry where it is bringing in engineering consultants to identify what they can do. “So far, 25 clusters have been covered under the scheme,” said Mathur.
Local consultants have been involved in the process. As also those who will supply the equipment. This local consultant will be trained enough to work with the remaining clusters. “The consultant will get a business opportunity and so will the equipment vendor,” said Mathur. If this works as planned, a sustainable market would be created, he added. The scheme is expected to be implemented within this year and its replication over the next year.