The Indian power sector scenario remains gloomy. Although power reforms started about a decade back, the achievements are only dismal. Financial health of most state electricity boards remains critical, mainly due to the uncontrolled use of low efficiency, power-wasting equipment and appliances, backbreaking heavy subsidies for agricultural and some other sectors, and huge power thefts and pilferage resulting in heavy loss of revenue for the state electricity boards and other utilities.

The problems faced by the power sector stem from increasing gap in the demand and supply of power, high transmission and distribution (T&D) losses as well as power theft/pilferage and wastage of expensive and limited energy due to the use of low efficiency equipment in various sectors. The prescription and implementation of energy conservation building codes has to be done in consultation and co-operation by Central and state governments which will have majors powers.

Energy Conservation

The Energy Conservation Bill-2001 was passed by the Parliament in August-2001 and was expected to clear the way for to check wastage energy. This Bill was supposed to control huge wastage of power. The Energy Conservation Bill 2001, prepared by group of expert committees discussed and debated at various forums, was passed by Parliament in August 2001. Thus, Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) was established and managed through a governing council.

However, the implementation of Energy Conservation Bill-2001 has to be done through well qualified and experienced energy managers with designated consumers and energy auditors to check and certify that there is compliance from every such consumer. Energy conservation, so achieved, will also benefit the consumers in their energy bills and increasing their profitability.

BEE also play key role in creation of professionally qualified energy managers and auditors with expertise in energy management, project management , financing and implementation of energy efficiency projects as well as policy analysis. It is a law to force firms to make more profit and not an act to control and monitor energy consumption of industry.

Under the BEE’s PAT (Perform, Achieve & Trade) Scheme, it is mandatory for the following eight industrial sectors to compulsorily improve their energy efficiency by adopting all available measures including replacement of old equipment with new and energy efficient ones. The eight industries are aluminum, cement, chloralkali, fertilizers, iron & steel, paper & pulp, textiles and thermal power plants.

All the assets, liabilities and employees of the existing energy management center were supposed to be transferred to this bureau. The Central government through its ministry of power, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency and state governments will have a major role to achieve the desire objectives. BEE has estimated a potential of more than 25 per cent savings through energy conservation.

With the more towards deregulation within the power utility industry, customers are demanding superior power quality and reliability of supply. Many utilities have responded to the needs of their customers by establishing power quality divisions within their marketing departments.

Main objectives of energy management programmers are cultivating good communications on energy matters; improving energy efficiency and reducing energy use and to reducing cost from the same; developing and maintaining effective monitoring, preparing reports and implementing steps for wise energy usage from the reports after analyzing; finding new and better ways to increase returns from Energy investment through research and development; developing interest in and dedication to the energy management programme from all employees; reducing the impact of curtailments brownouts or any interruption in energy supplies.

Energy Audit & Accounting

Energy accounting gives the overall picture of energy availability and its use. The energy audit enables analyzing the data in meaningful manner to evolve measure to introduce checks & balances in the system to reduce leakages and losses and also to improve technical performances. Energy audit is carried out with the following objectives:

Review of technical efficiency of system elements in T&D system.

Review of performance of equipment, meters, control panels, distribution transformers, etc.

Analysis of the techniques for measuring energy received, energy billed and revenue collection

Review and upgrade of procedure for energy accounting

Establishment of norms for checking consumption of various categories of consumers and overall energy balance in the circle

Clearly audit the segregation of technical and Non-technical losses These losses depend on pattern and nature of demand, load density and the capability and configuration of system and equipment used. These losses vary for various system elements. However system where total percentage loss lie beyond aforementioned values, should become a matter of serious concern. Target for reduction of technical/non-technical loss should accordingly be fixed measures identified and action taken to accomplish the same within given time period.

All the details pertaining to energy accounting may be fed to the computerized billing system and the MIS report of each feeder may be generated through software package.

MIS Report in the desired format could be generated by the billing computer. The system may be made available at various levels like substation, subdivision, divisions, circle. It can thus be concluded that energy accounting and audit is very essential for reducing the T&D loss within optimum permissible limits, for which target are to be fixed and concerned efforts are to be made to plug the leakages in the T&D system so that revenue collection of power utilities increases which in turn will improve their financial health.

This is a stupendous work and needs full cooperation from everybody, including all manufacturers, energy consumers, as well as the Central and the state governments. The objectives of this energy conservation are very good but the road ahead is very long, rough and tardy. However, with cooperation and strong will, nothing is impossible.