VIJAYAWADA: Experts from across the globe have showered accolades on the Investment Bazaar meet, which Visakhapatnam hosted to encourage energy efficiency investments in the industrial sector. The platform is said to have played a key role in bringing financial institutions and industries under one roof for discussions on energy efficient projects.
The same was mentioned and discussed during a recent international webinar on ‘energy efficiency financing’ organised by Paris-based Organization For Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) in coordination with the Bureau Of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Government of India.
BEE director general Abhay Bhakre said energy efficiency financing is a highly-effective initiative to achieve the goal of reducing emission intensity of the country by 33 per cent to 35 per cent by 2030 from the 2005 levels.
“Energy efficiency financing is important in the coming decade. Every sector, every scheme will have specific targets. To achieve those targets, more efforts are required in terms of technology deployment, capacity building and even seeking latest technology which require huge investments,” he explained.
Vineeta Kanvwal, director (EE Financing) said India has been working proactively to achieve 40 per cent of electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel based resources by 2030; and create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent through forest and tree cover by 2030.
As per the UNNATI report of BEE, there is a huge investment potential of Rs 10 lakh crore in energy efficiency that could achieve energy savings of 86.9 MTs by 2031. In this, the industrial sector may alone contribute to 50 per cent savings.
Energy secretary Srikant Nagulapalli mentioned that as per International Energy Agency (IEA) carbon emissions are set to hit an all time high by 2023 as just two per cent of pandemic recovery finance is being spent on clean energy.
“Keeping this in view, AP will take lead in curbing greenhouse gases by implementing energy efficiency programmes through APSECM and State Designated Agency,” he said. He emphasised the need for an energy efficiency financing scheme to attract entrepreneurs and stakeholders.