The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Focus on energy efficiency

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Monday, Aug 30, 2010
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Focus on energy efficiency

K. Venkateshwarlu

Cost-wise, energy efficiency worked out to one-fourth or half as much as building a new power plant

HYDERABAD: What is the least cost option to cover the ever increasing demand- supply gap in power sector often faced by all the leapfrogging economies of Asia?

Is it improving energy efficiency or go in for newer power plants at huge costs?

Experts addressing a media workshop here on Friday have nearly solved this dilemma giving a thumbs up to energy efficiency.

Citing the example of Thailand, Peter du Pont, chief of party, USAID ECO-Asia clean development and climate programme, says currently 6.5 per cent of that country's electricity came from efficiency.

Cost-wise, energy efficiency worked out to one-fourth or half as much as building a new power plant.

Without the demand side management (DSM) programmes, Thailand would have had to build three large gas or coal–fired power plants of 1,400 mega watts, he added. He was addressing a two-day media workshop on clean energy in India and Asia, organised jointly by USAID ECO Asia Clean Development and Climate Programme and Earth Journalism Network here.

Describing energy efficiency as the most cost- effective resource, he said it should be the “first fuel” as estimates show that as much as half of new energy could be provided by improved efficiency.

World Bank study

Quoting a World Bank study, he said while the cost of energy through DSM worked out to 2.1 cents per kilo watt hour, it was 5.5 for generating low sulphur coal with Flue-Gas Desulphurization (FGD) and 8.2 for nuclear. Huge investments of $ 6.3 trillion was needed for building energy supply infrastructure in Asia's developing economies till 2030 while for much less investment, energy efficiency could be improved.

Dr. Pont made an interesting observation of how cost of nuclear and solar power production crossed each other the world over, this year.

But from now on, cost of producing nuclear power would keep rising while that of solar energy would come down.

In another presentation on clean energy financing, Suneel Parasnis, team leader, Clean Energy Finance, Eco Asia, said in India, it had received 100 applications for ‘green tech' projects out of which 15 have been cleared. A majority of 60 percent of these project proposals were based on solar energy and most of them were from Karnataka.

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