As per the FY23 tariff order of the AP Energy Regulatory Commission, the total energy requirement of Andhra Pradesh is 65,830 million units.
Published Oct 09, 2022 | 1:53 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 09, 2022 | 1:56 PM
A power plant in Andhra Pradesh (Wiki Commons)
Andhra Pradesh is apparently saving quite a bit of money through its energy conservation techniques, which are also expected to have a positive impact on the environment.
The World Bank, in 2016, ranked Andhra Pradesh as the best state in the country in the implementation of energy efficiency and conservation programmes.
Now, as per the latest tariff order of the AP Energy Regulatory Commission (APERC) for FY 2022-23, the total energy requirement of Andhra Pradesh stands at around 65,830 million units.
According to the Central government’s Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Andhra Pradesh has the potential to save around 25 percent of the total energy demand — about 16, 875 million units — across different sectors like the domestic, industries, agriculture, institutional, and commercial sectors.
It is expected to save around ₹11,779 crore, at ₹6.98 per unit, which is the average cost of service.
Table of Energy saving potential in Andhra Pradesh
“If the state government takes steps to save at least 50 percent out of the total energy saving potential, which is around 12.5 percent of total energy demand in the state, it could benefit the state with a monetary savings of around ₹5, 889 crore per annum. We are slowly but steadily going there. We are on the right path,” AP State Energy Conservation Mission (APSECM) CEO A Chandrasekhar Reddy told South First.
APSECM is the State Designated Agency (SDA) that is a standalone organisation for energy efficiency in the state, set up by the Andhra Pradesh government under Section 15(d) of the Energy Conservation (EC) Act of 2001.
APSECM works in coordination with BEE, which assists in developing policies and strategies with the primary objective of reducing the energy intensity of the Indian economy.
Reddy also said that energy efficiency was the least-cost option to meet future energy demand and achieve the objective of a sustainable economy in the state.
“As a developing state, we are expecting the highest energy demand in the coming years. For instance, the energy demand in July 2018 was around 5,081 million units (MU), whereas the demand in July 2022 was 5,312 MU, which was a 4.5 percent increase. Also the energy demand is going up by around 5-6 percent every year,” he explained.
“It is expected that the highest demand of 240 MU per day is likely to be reached in March 2023, and the utilities are preparing a long-term action plan to meet the demand. Energy conservation and energy efficiency would contribute to meeting this demand to some extent,” Reddy added.
APSECM is reportedly preparing a roadmap and is going to propose to the state government the opportunities to achieve at least 50 percent of the total energy-saving potential by using technology and human intervention, involving all government departments, students, self-help group women, entrepreneurs, and other stakeholders.
A major portion of the ₹3,863 crore worth of energy savings in Andhra Pradesh had come from the Central government’s Unnat Jyothi Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) and Perform, Achieve & Trade (PAT) schemes for the industrial sector, implemented proactively by the state government and coordinated by APSECM.
Until now, under the UJALA scheme, 2.20 crore LED bulbs were distributed to all the households in the state, and they helped save around 1,621 MU of energy, worth ₹1,113 crore, resulting in a reduction of 1.37 million tons of CO2.
Energy savings in Andhra Pradesh
Also, around 25.22 lakh old street lights were replaced by LED lights in all the districts of the state.
This resulted in savings to the tune of 279 MUs, worth ₹191.6 crore, with a reduction of 0.24 million tons of CO2.
Under the PAT scheme, 36 highly energy-intensive industries in Andhra Pradesh saved around 3,430 MUs of energy, worth ₹23,56.41 crore.
PAT is a regulatory instrument to reduce Specific Energy Consumption (SEC) in energy-intensive industries, with an associated market-based mechanism to enhance cost-effectiveness through certification of excess energy saving, which can be traded.
The PAT mechanism is designed to achieve the required energy efficiency in energy-intensive sectors.
Energy consumption norms and standards are set by BEE for intensive industry sectors.
Andra Pradesh discoms also replaced around 72,010 agricultural pump sets with energy-efficient pump sets
and saved 125 MU of electricity in the agricultural sector, with monetary savings of ₹85.87 lakh.
While the savings of the PAT scheme were evaluated by BEE, a third-party energy auditing agency empanelled by BEE conducts an impact study and assesses the energy savings for the remaining energy efficiency programmes being implemented by Andhra Pradesh.
