India’s climate change commitments to reduce carbon intensity by 33-35 per cent by 2030 from 2005 level will require a significant focus on energy efficiency improvements. The World Bank has approved a $220 million (Rs 1,496 crore) loan and an $80 million (Rs 544 crore) guarantee for the India Energy Efficiency Scale-Up Program.
The Program, to be implemented by the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), will help scale up the deployment of energy saving measures in residential and public sectors, strengthen EESL’s institutional capacity, and enhance its access to commercial financing.
The investments under the Program are expected to avoid lifetime greenhouse gas emissions of 170 million tonnes of CO2 and contribute to avoiding an estimated 10 GW of additional generation capacity.
This would be over 50 percent of the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency target of 19.6 GW indicated in India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Accord.
The key components of the operation include creating sustainable markets for LED lights, energy efficient ceiling fans, facilitating well-structured and scalable investments in public street lighting, developing sustainable business models for emerging market segments such as super-efficient air conditioning and agricultural water pumping systems and strengthening the institutional capacity of EESL.
Under the Program, EESL will deploy 219 million LED bulbs and tube lights, 5.8 million ceiling fans, and 7.2 million street lights, which will be supplied by private sector manufacturers and suppliers.