ADB to help EESL in setting up energy efficiency revolving fund with GEF grant

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Sunday said it will provide USD 13 million loan to EESL to promote efficient energy usage in India.

ADB and the Energy Efficiency Services (EESL) signed a USD 13 million grant, to be provided by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), for the additional financing of an ongoing ADB-supported project that is promoting end-use energy efficiency, it said in a release.

The grant, to be administered by ADB, is tied to the USD 200 million ADB-financed Demand-Side Energy Efficiency Sector Project. It was approved by the bank in 2016 to finance the installation of millions of energy-efficient lights on streets and homes as well as energy-efficient water pumps across India.

"The ADB funding is helping EESL finance energy service utilities for installing established energy-efficient technologies such as light-emitting diode (LED) street-lights with municipalities while exploring newer technologies and their self-sustaining business models. The existing loan aims to achieve energy savings of around 3,800 gigawatt-hours annually," said Kenichi Yokoyama, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission, who signed the grant agreement for ADB.

The additional financing for the project through GEF grant will be used by EESL for making investments in new and emerging technologies, including trigeneration, efficient motors and air-conditioners, smart meters/grids, and associated new business models to expand the use of such innovations, as well as to set up an energy efficiency revolving fund, said Saurabh Kumar, Managing Director, EESL.

ADB said the promotion of more efficient technologies through additional financing will result in lesser electricity bills and a reduction in carbon-dioxide emissions.

This will support the overall objective of the project that is aligned with the goals of the government's National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE) and aims to expand the market for energy-efficient technologies and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

(With inputs from agencies.)