BEE now planning a super-efficiency scale

Riding on the success of its grading system for consumer appliances, the power ministry’s Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) is mulling a similar scheme for so-called super-efficient equipment.

If implemented, the programme could bring some of the world’s most energy-efficient consumer appliances to India at cheap rates.

“These appliances would be even better than five-star labelled products, which, under normal circumstances, would have hit the market 5-10 years from now and are at present very expensive,” said Ajay Mathur, director general of BEE.

The scheme will first aim to define super-efficient equipment. A super-efficient fan, for instance, will need just 25-30W to run for a specific period, against 50W for a normal fan.

There would be a “global bid for the lowest subsidy requirement”, said Mathur, demanding energy savings of at least 25% over the best efficiency prevalent in India in a specific class. Funding will initially come from the Union government and later from state-run utilities, he added.

A forum of regulators has already given in-principle approval for the programme, said Mathur. Forum members include the chairpersons of the Central and state electricity regulatory commissions.

Since 2006, BEE’s star-labelling programmes for appliances such as air conditioners and television sets based on energy consumption have helped save around 3,800 million units of electricity and the fuel equivalent to around 1.7 million tonnes of oil, says the bureau.

The programme doesn’t provide subsidies but still works as buyers are encouraged to opt for long-term savings in electricity and fuel bills, even if the higher-rated appliances are more expensive.

Soon, BEE will begin an energy-efficiency certificate trading scheme among India’s nine most energy-intensive industry sectors. It also plans to extend its star-labelling system to apartments, as Mint reported in August.