CASE STUDY - I

Demand Side Management in rural local bodies: a case study from Maharashtra
The ISO 9001 and ISO 14001-certified Maharashtra Energy Development Agency (MEDA) has received praises at the national level from the Ministry of Power, Government of India, for its initiatives and efforts in promoting energy conservation and energy efficiency. Here is a case study on Demand Side Management (DSM) and improvement of energy efficiency in street lighting and water pumping system in rural local bodies

The western state of Maharashtra in India is a leading industrial state, with more than 15,000 MW of installed power generating capacity. The main objectives of MEDA are to act as a Nodal Agency for renewable energy sources, Designated Agency for implementation of the Energy Conservation Act-01 in the state, and Designated Agency for Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). MEDA has its own wind mill projects of 11.06 MW – a 3.75 MW project has recently been validated and request for registration sent to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as a CDM project.

Initiatives by MEDA
MEDA has established a separate department for energy conservation. In its Perspective 2012 Plan for renewable energy and energy efficiency, MEDA, with help from The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), has identified a potential of 3,000 MW peak shave-off. On the guidelines of the Perceptive 2012 Plan, MEDA has prepared an action plan to save 1,000 MW peak shave off in which various options forDSM have been identified and proposed. Toward this end, MEDA is working on the following 10 programs:

• Home Bright – improvement of energy efficiency in residence sector
• Public Building – Improvement of energy efficiency in public buildings
• Solar Water Heating – Replacement of electric geysers by solar water heaters
• SME – Energy efficiency improvement in small and medium enterprises (SMEs)
• Work Bright – Commercial high efficiency lighting program
• Motor Re-Power – High efficiency motor rewinding program
• Energy Efficiency Financing – Financing energy efficiency projects
• Agricultural Efficiency – Improvement of power factor for AG pumps
• Bright Street – Municipal street lighting
• Watergy – Improvement of energy efficiency of municipal water pumping system

PROJECT NAME: Demand Side Management and Improvement of Energy Efficiency in Street Lighting and Water Pumping System in Rural Local Bodies

Objectives

• To reduce morning and evening peak on the utility system
• To fill the off-peak valley at midnight of the utility system
• To reduce the wastage of energy and water
• To minimize distribution losses (commercial losses)
• To reduce operation and maintenance cost on street lighting and water pumping system
• To reduce overall GHG emissions

Background
Though Maharashtra has the highest installed power generating capacity in India, the state is facing nearly 4,000–4,600 MW peak demand shortage in the morning and evening, with excess off-peak power availability in the state. Roughly 1.3 percent and 4 percent of the total power is spent on street lighting and public water pumping, respectively, maintained by the respective local bodies. Most urban local bodies have taken a number of measures to reduce energy wastage. However, a large amount of electrical energy and water is being wasted in rural street lighting and water pumping systems due to lack of automation, power theft, lack of awareness, resistance to adopt new practices, and subsidized power for this sector. These rural local bodies are spending more than 50 percent of their total income toward electricity bills. MEDA, with technical support from the United States Asia Environment Partnership (USAEP), studied the barriers in detail and developed the following methodology to overcome the barriers. No systematic efforts/studies had been made by any other organization prior to this.

Innovation MEDA developed Demonstration Projects, with technical support from USAEP, in 38 gram panchayats (rural local bodies) in the state. It introduced a simple automated system for street lighting and water pumping system (see Table 1)

Achievements
For this Demonstration Project, MEDA finalized the technical specifications and rate contract was made with the vendor in which 75 percent of the product cost was supported by MEDA and the rest 25 percent was borne by the respective rural local bodies. The energy savings were continuously monitored for 12 months, and nearly 39 percent energy saving was achieved. See Figures 1and 2.

Replication of the Project
On successful completion of the Demonstration Project, MEDA has submitted a proposal for project replication in all rural local bodies of the state, targeting electricity saving to the tune of 100 million units. The aim is to achieve 50 MW reduction in peak demand and 28 MW addition in off-peak demand for the Rural Development Department of the Government of Maharashtra and state electricity utilities in the state. One of the leading utilities has accepted the proposal and agreed to provide financial support for appoximately 2,000 rural local bodies in the first phase. The targeting is to achieve 10 MW load shift.

Courtesy: S.R. Chaudhari, GM (EC), and D.V. Khandare, Manager (EC), Maharashtra Energy Development Agency, Pune