Industries consume around 34 per cent of India’s total primary energy consumption. The Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) scheme by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) under the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE), is a key market-based mechanism aimed at enhancing industrial energy efficiency. The scheme is a unique energy efficiency cap and trade scheme, which currently covers energy-intensive units consuming 55-60 per cent of India’s total industrial energy consumption.
Under the scheme, the Ministry of Power sets energy efficiency targets for large industrial consumers of energy (called Designated Consumers or DCs) under the Energy Conservation Act, 2001. Those who exceed their targets are awarded energy savings certificates (ESCerts), which they can sell to those who fail to meet their targets. PAT is a multi-cycle scheme, with each cycle spanning over a period of three years. The first cycle began in 2012. Up to April 2019, four cycles of PAT were in progress, consisting of 956 DCs from 13 energy-intensive sectors.
Shakti engaged with key stakeholders to strengthen the design and implementation of the PAT scheme. We began by enabling the development of baseline methodology and the compilation of industry-wise best practices on energy efficiency. We facilitated training programs, which helped industrial units and state designated agencies (SDAs) to address the knowledge gap around energy auditing, energy management systems, technological innovations and trading outlook for energy saving certificates. Our collaboration with the designated agencies in Maharashtra, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur and Sikkim helped to train more than 500 practicing energy auditors, industry professionals, SDAs, public sector enterprises and other energy professionals.
Shakti has enabled capacity building and outreach efforts to make stakeholders aware of the processes and compliance modalities associated with the scheme. Several workshops were targeted at industrial units and SDAs in eastern and north-eastern parts of the country. The workshops addressed the knowledge gap around energy auditing, energy management systems, technological innovations and the trading outlook for ESCerts.
During PAT cycles 2 and 4, efforts facilitated by Shakti led to the identification of new energy-intensive industrial sectors and notifying these sectors as designated consumers—petroleum refineries under cycle 2 and petrochemicals and hotels under cycle 4.
During cycle 4, Shakti’s efforts laid the groundwork for a more informed discussion on the petrochemical sector and in March 2018, Ministry of Power notified 37 buildings and 8 petrochemical units as designated consumers.
Overall, India has saved 17 million tonnes of oil equivalent every year and reduced 87 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year under the PAT Scheme, according to the Ministry of Power.