With an aim to improve energy use efficiency, the Ministry of Urban Development on Wednesday signed an MoU with public sector enterprise Energy Efficiency Services Ltd.

To start with, EESL will develop overall strategy for taking up Energy Efficient Projects in urban areas and will take up implementation of energy efficient pump sets in public water works and sewage systems to be followed by similar interventions for public lighting, public transport systems and buildings.

Cities selected under smart cities mission would be targeted first and followed by Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) cities and others in a phased manner. Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said that energy audit and improving energy use efficiency is one of the mandated reforms under AMRUT and this initiative would help the cities significantly.

Under the MoU, it has been stated that energy costs account for 40 per cent to 60 per cent of cost of water supply in urban areas and energy efficiency interventions can reduce this cost by 25 per cent to 40 per cent, depending on the type and age of machines being used for bulk water supply.

“Necessary interventions would be undertaken by EESL without any financial burden on urban local bodies as cost of the proposed Municipal Energy Efficiency Programmes would be borne from out of the savings. The MoU states that performance contracting offers a mechanism for urban local bodies to finance these projects without upfront investment,” the statement added.

Ministry of Urban Development would facilitate signing of agreements between the State Governments, urban local bodies and EESL for conducting Investment Grade Energy Audit, preparation of technical reports and for implementation after the reports are approved.

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