Promoting Energy Efficiency in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Waste Heat Recovery Measures in India

Abstract

Report on a the 6th Energy Management Action Network Workshop held on Wednesday, 25 February 2015 at the Taj Palace Hotel, New Delhi, India. The workshop provided participants with an opportunity to:  Learn about and share experiences on designing and implementing energy efficiency policies and programmes for SMEs  Identify innovative ways of financing energy efficiency projects  Better understand the technical opportunities to reuse waste heat in industrial organisations  Initiate and develop networks within and across SMEs, the finance sector, industry associations and government policy-makers at both national and international levels  Contribute towards domestic and international dialogue and capacity building on energy efficiency measures. Over 80 people attended the workshop. Participants represented governments, industry associations, SMEs in the industrial sector, financial institutions, NGOs and researchers. Participants from India, Japan and Australia contributed local, national and international perspectives. Thirteen presentations from highly respected Indian and International speakers were delivered. Participant perspectives on the challenges and opportunities for progressing energy efficiency in SMEs were also encouraged through interactive small group discussions. In the final session, a distinguished panel shared their perspectives on the issues raised throughout the workshop and future priorities for progressing energy efficiency improvement in SMEs. The main themes that emerged from the workshop are: 1. SMEs play a central role in the economy of India, Japan and other countries around the world. Energy efficiency improves the productivity and competitiveness of SMEs which, in turn, contributes to employment opportunities, innovation and economic growth. 2. Energy efficiency policies and programmes should be designed to provide assistance across the energy efficiency project lifecycle from project identification, through the development of specifications, selection of vendors, access to finance and implementation. This is important because information alone is often not sufficient to motivate SMEs to progress energy efficiency even when projects present a strong financial return. 3. Research, Development, Demonstration and Dissemination (RDD&D) activities are essential to ensure that locally relevant technologies are accessible to SMEs. Due to the small scale and financial challenges faced by SMEs, energy efficient technologies that have a high capital cost are often not feasible and therefore alternatives need to be developed locally. 4. The large number of SMEs and their diverse business activities and energy consumption patterns present a challenge for the development of SME programmes. Focusing on geographic clusters of particular industries is an approach that has been effectively utilised in India. 5. Energy efficiency in SMEs requires sustained efforts from governments, technical experts, banks and other stakeholders over a number of years. This is due to the large number and diversity of SMEs. 6. Waste heat recovery has significant potential in India. To meet this potential, policies can be improved by establishing a framework and incentives to support the uptake of such projects. Policy frameworks that have been developed in Japan provide a useful indication of the kinds of policies that might be developed in India and other countries. This report and video recordings of the presentations will be made available on the International Energy Agency’s website to ensure that the workshop outcomes are widely shared with policy makers and practitioners around the world.