Wednesday, May 21, 2014: With an aim to improve energy efficiency in the SME sector, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) is now looking to appoint a project coordinator and engineer for its ‘Promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy in selected MSME clusters in India’ project. The five-year project that commenced in September 2011 is funded by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) with support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The ministry of MSME (MoMSME) and the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) have also joined hands for the ambitious project that entails an investment of $33 million.
The project focuses on bringing about a market environment in the country that is accompanied by energy efficiency (EE) and boasts of a greater use of renewable energy technologies for process applications. Twelve MSME clusters under five energy-intensive MSME sub-sectors have been chosen depending upon their total energy consumption as well as their energy-intensity levels for the project. These clusters in all have a total energy consumption of approximately 1.44 million tonnes of oil equivalent (mtoe), according to TERI.
The main goals of the project include: increasing the capacity of energy-efficient and renewable energy-based products suppliers, service providers and financing institutions while also increasing the levels of end-use demand and implementation of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies and practices by MSMEs. While addressing key barriers like lack of adequate technologies and capacities at cluster levels, the project will further aim to scale itself to a much broader national level.
