Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy
India's energy consumption has almost doubled since the year 2000. With the steadily increasing urbanization of the country, it is quite likely that the future will see even greater demands for energy. Estimates suggest that by the year 2040, India's energy consumption will be growing by 4.2 per cent per year, faster than all the world's major economies, accounting for 11 per cent of global energy consumption.
However, growth without a sustainable basis introduces several challenges. According to a 2018 study on global air pollution levels by the World Health Organization, fourteen of world's fifteen most polluted cities were in India. The country's dependence on coal, which is the source of nearly 60 percent of India's power generation, is one of the major reasons for India's high CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions. Almost three-quarters of India's energy needs are still met by fossil fuels, a share that has increased since the year 2000.
In order to meet the growing demand for energy and reduce its carbon and greenhouse emissions, India will need shift its energy mix toward low carbon energy by increasing its use and generation of renewable energy. The country also needs to focus on emissions control technologies when it comes to the power sector, industry and transport. An economical way to address this issue is through the adoption of energy efficient techniques that will complement the nation's climate change goals.
India also has a massive energy saving potential-about 15 to 30 percent across all sectors. If industries (large, medium and small), buildings (commercial and government) and municipalities-which are responsible for around 50 percent of India's total electricity consumption-adopt energy efficiency measures, it is quite possible to achieve better results in energy conservation.
To successfully demonstrate the technical viability and commercial feasibility of the India's energy demand objectives, the IFC, in collaboration with the EU is addressing the challenges in the following ways.
First, by enabling the development and adoption of Climate-Smart Infrastructure. This is being done by involving the private sector in such investments through public-private partnerships (PPPs). For instance, several projects already executed include the installation of rooftop solar panels in Maharashtra and Odisha, and LED street lighting in Bhubaneswar and Bengaluru.
Another method by which the IFC is addressing these challenges is by promoting competitive small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). This is necessary because, firstly, more than 80 per cent of India's industrial sector is made up of SMEs, which generate 60 percent of India's GDP and contribute to 35 percent of direct exports. There is also great scope in this sector for improvement, because SMEs have fallen behind industry benchmarks in terms of productivity and adoption of energy-efficiency technologies. This problem is made worse by the fact that there are few financing options available for SMEs that want to invest in cleaner production technologies, as banks are either are not comfortable lending to energy projects or because they often consider such investments risky.
IFC is addressing the challenges by promoting resource efficiency in selected SME clusters, by addressing access-to-financing barriers, and by engaging with multiple stakeholders and promoting dialogues to raise awareness. The focus is on SME clusters/industrial zones and not individual SMEs to achieve scale and maximize impact.
Bhubaneswar Low Income Housing
IFC has assisted the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) to structure a public-private partnership for the design and construction of a greenfield housing project in Bhubaneswar, using private capital for the creation of affordable housing. A…
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Odisha Programmatic Street Lighting
The objective of this project is to implement energy efficiency measures in the public street lighting system across five cities (Bhubaneswar, Be…
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Odisha Solar Park
IFC is assisting the government of Odisha to implement grid connected solar photovoltaic power projects at several different locations identified…
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Maharashtra Energy Development Agency Project
Maharashtra enjoys 250-300 days of clear sun with an average radiation of 4.5 to 5.5 kWh/square metre over a day, and holds the capacity to generate 1.5 million unit/MW year through grid-connected rooftop solar…
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Supporting Renewable Energy
Eco-Cities India Program is supporting the Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency (OREDA) in the implementation of rooftop solar PV plants in the residential areas of the state through consumer proliferation via process standardization and use…Read More
Promoting Competitive SMES
To understand the barriers before SME financing, TERI, on behalf of IFC, undertook a “Feasibility study for the SME EE finance project” under the Eco-Cities India Program. The study focused on identificati…
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Rooftop Solar PV in Thane & Pune
The project aims at installing grid-connected rooftop solar PV systems on the rooftops of residential, commercial, and industrial premises in Thane and Pune …
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LED Streetlights for Bengaluru
Bengaluru has been grappling with the problem of inadequate streetlights for years. The Bengaluru public streetlighting PPP project aims to pr…
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Odisha Rooftop Solar Project
The Government of Odisha, through Green Energy Development Corporation of Odisha Limited (GEDCOL) is implementing a Rooftop Solar Project on most of the government buildings in the towns of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. IFC supported GEDCOL in developm…
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