EESL’s projects,
under one of the largest funding by GEF till date, will mitigate 60 million
tonnes of CO2 eq
UN
Environment’s ‘District Energy in Cities’ Initiative already identified $600
million of Energy Efficiency projects across 5 cities in India
Recognizing India’s efforts
towards a low emission-economy and focusing on energy efficiency programmes,
the Global Environment Facility (GEF) has now
partnered with Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), under Ministry
of Power,
for the project ‘Creating and
Sustaining Markets for Energy Efficiency’, here today. The
project will receive a composite funding of $454 million comprised of the GEF
grant of $20 million and co-financing of $434 million in the form of
loans and equity, including a $200 million loan from the Asian Development Bank
(ADB).
EESL
further proposes Energy Efficiency Revolving Fund (EERF) for sustainable
funding mechanism
of energy
efficiency projects in the country.
The EERF mechanism will support the ‘proof
of concept’ investments for the new technologies of super-efficient ceiling
fans, tri-generation technologies & smart grid-applications and ultimately
scaling up energy efficiency financing and programme development to help cover
initial investment costs of identified energy efficiency programmes like street
lighting, domestic lighting, five-star rated ceiling fans and agricultural
pumps, in the country. This unique model will help in addressing the upfront
risks of new technologies. Further, the accrued savings from these technologies
can then be used to finance additional projects, which would allow capital to
revolve as a sustainable funding mechanism.
The GEF project further brings together
many technical and financing partners including United Nations Environment (UN Environment), Asian
Development Bank (ADB) and Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) which aims to mitigate
60 million tons of CO2 eq (carbon dioxide
equivalent), that will
enable a total direct energy savings of 38.3 million GJ by
2022 and 137.5 million GJ by
2032.
(1
GJ = 277.778 kWh)
Addressing the gathering, Shri Ajay
Kumar Bhalla, Secretary, Ministry of Power, said that currently around
two-thirds of total power generation capacity in India is based on fossil
fuels. By 2030, India is committed to achieve 40% of the installed capacity
based on clean energy sources. To achieve this target, it is imperative to
create awareness in the citizens, especially among youth, to encourage energy efficiency
measures like use of electric vehicles, energy efficient building codes etc.,
he added.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Anil Kumar
Jain, Additional Secretary Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change,
said that the overall size of energy efficiency market in India is estimated to
be $23 billion. Initiatives like these seek to tap that market by implementing
an innovative business model that is scalable, flexible, embraces different and
emerging technologies and has incentives for all stakeholders.
Ms Naoko Ishii, Chairperson and CEO, GEF
said that with the strong leadership of EESL and the Government of India, the
penetration of these clean energy technologies will help India leapfrog to a
more sustainable future while helping reduce local and global emissions.
Kenichi Yokoyama, Country Director of
India Resident Mission of ADB, said that ADB will partner EESL to implement
energy efficiency projects in India to facilitate sustainable growth by
addressing climate change issues, boosting the economy and generating greater
employment in the country.
Mr. Geordie Codville of the UN
Environment said that the project is aimed at scaling up energy efficiency
efforts to achieve India’s Intended Nationally Determined
Contribution (INDC) goals and ultimately the UN Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs).
EESL also has its sights set on district
cooling systems which can reduce energy demand for cooling by up to 50 percent. EESL has
partnered with UN Environment’s District
Energy in Cities Initiative, which has already identified $600 million of
projects across five cities in India.
GEF is an international partnership of
183 countries, international institutions, civil society organizations and the
private sector that addresses global environmental issues. The funding
announcement was made at the launch of the GEF-6 fund which supports two
projects –
‘Creating
Markets for Energy Efficiency’ and ‘District Energy
in Cities’.
Other dignitaries present on the
occasion were Shri Raj Pal, Economic Advisor, Ministry of Power, Shri Saurabh
Kumar, MD, EESL and other senior officers of the Ministry and PSUs under it.
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RM/VM/AS