EES seeks USD 400 mn loan from World Bank to execute projects

Energy Efficiency Services Ltd, an entity under the Union Power Ministry, is securing a USD 400 million loan from the World Bank for aggressively implementing programmes across the country for improving energy efficiency and saving both power and money.
The EESL is also getting help from the World Bank in designing an energy efficiency development programme by bringing in better technologies from different countries, the company's Managing Director, Saurabh Kumar, said today.
The EESL, a Joint Venture of NTPC Ltd, PFC, REC and PowerGrid, was currently investing Rs 7,000 crore, including Rs 1,000 crore in Andhra Pradesh, on energy efficiency programmes.

Talking to newspersons on the sidelines of a two-day international conference on energy efficient lighting systems here, Kumar said besides power-efficient LED bulbs, fans and agricultural pump sets, EESL was also focusing on ACs and Government buildings where there was a lot of scope for saving electricity.
"We have already distributed over 9.2 crore LED bulbs across the country while private companies sold another six crore. Our ultimate target is to replace 77 crore incandescent bulbs with LEDs in the next three years.
"This will reduce electricity peak load by 20,000 MW and Rs 40,000 crore in monetary terms," he said.

The EESL chief said price of each LED bulb has now come down to Rs 85 from about Rs 220 earlier.

While Andhra ranked No 1 in the country in energy efficiency, Rajasthan stood second followed by Maharashtra.
The EESL has targeted to replace two crore inefficient agricultural pump sets with energy-efficient ones in the next three years.
"There is no doubt some reluctance on part of the farmers but with the help of local agencies and technicians we are trying to create an awareness on the use of energy- efficient pumps. These pumps come with a five-year warranty and will help each farmer save Rs 3,000-Rs 5,000 per annum."

As many as 51 billion units of power could be saved once the two crore pump sets were replaced, resulting in a saving of Rs 20,000 crore per annum in the form of subsidy, Kumar pointed out.