Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : Ministry of Power celebrated the National Energy Conservation Day on December 14, 2021, at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. On this occasion, R K Singh, Union Power and NRE Minister, presented the 31st National Energy Conservation Awards (NECA), 1st National Energy Efficiency Innovation Awards (NEEIA), and prizes to the winners of National Level Painting Competition on Energy Conservation. Singh was the chief guest on this occasion.
Addressing the event, Union Power and New and Renewable Energy Minister R K. Singh, congratulated all the winners specially the winners of innovation awards. Singh said that it gives him enormous pleasure to address the this gathering comprising heads, managers, CEOs, and executives ofdifferent industrial sectors, establishments, and organisations, who are the shining stars of Energy conservation movement. He said that one of the priorities of the government is to provide universal energy access at affordable prices and on a 24/7 basis. In the recent few years, India has made significant progress in village electrification and providing electricity connections to households, he added.
Singh said, ” In the Power sector, we have brought total transformation in the past five years by adding 142 GW generation capacity, connecting the entire country into one grid, and achieving the vision of one grid, one market. India has been transformed from an energy deficit to energy surplus nation. The availability of Power in rural and urban areas has increased tremendously in comparison to 2014.” Power is available for a duration of close to 22 hours and close to 23.5 hours in rural and urban areas respectively, he added, according to a PIB release.
Singh also said that the transformation is not just in capacity but also with respect to the energy mix, energy intensity, and emission intensity. He informed that, India has achieved the NDC target of having 40% energy production from non-fossil sources. This achievement has happened way in advance of our target date. We have one of the lowest per capita emission in the world and in absolute terms it comes to 3% of the total emissions, he said.
Under the Gram Ujala Scheme, a target of 10 lakh LED bulbs were distributed on December 14, 2021, in 5 states, for which Singh congratulated Convergence Energy Services Limited ( CESL). Distributed in rural areas of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Telengana, and Andhra Pradesh, at a highly subsidized cost of Rs 10 in exchange for working incandescent bulbs, it heralds immense saving of energy, as also saving for the consumer. Singh credited BEE on saving around 300 million tons of CO2 by their various schemes like Perform, Achieve, Trade, (PAT).
“After second round of PAT, we have achieved emission reduction of 66 Million tonnes per annum.We are aiming at achieving 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022. 150 GW has been generated while 63 GW of renewable energy is still under generation. The decoupling between growth and energy consumption has happened, we have to push harder,” Singh said. He stressed on the notion that energy transformation alone will not suffice and efforts must also be undertaken to store energy. 1 Unit of energy saved results in 1 Unit of energy generated. The Minister said large industries have already accepted the benefits of energy efficiency. Singh complimented the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) for initiating new awards called National Energy Efficiency Innovation Awards to promote innovation in the energy sector. The Minister concluded by saying that all the efforts that are been undertaken by the stakeholders concerned will help us realise the vision of a greener and healthier India.
Krishan Pal, Minister of State for Power, and Alok Kumar, Secretary (Power), Govt. of India, also addressed the gathering. CMDs of Power CPSUs and senior officials from the Ministry of Power were also present at the event.