For the foundries in Coimbatore, numbering more than 500, a long-term project on energy efficiency and renewables is bringing in better awareness, new technologies, and systems for better energy efficiency.
About 100 foundries, most of them small and medium-scale, are part of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded project on “energy efficiency and renewable energy in MSME clusters in India”, implemented by UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organisation) and BEE (Bureau of Energy Efficiency).
S. Kuppusamy, president of Coimbatore Industrial Infrastructure Association, and Niranjan Rao Deevela, national technology co-ordinator of UNIDO, told The Hindu that under the project, which includes technology intervention, energy audits, awareness programmes and industrial visits, an energy management centre was commissioned here last March. So far, 16 energy audits were conducted.
An awareness programme was conducted on Tuesday for local service providers to the foundries. Five pilot projects were recently sanctioned for Coimbatore foundries for technology demonstration.
Trial projects
On the renewables front, several foundries go in for third party purchase of wind energy. There were plans for trial projects to generate bio gas for several applications at the units.
Objective
Mr. Deevela said the project, which was launched in 2011 and will end by December next year, was implemented at 12 clusters in the country for five sectors - ceramics, hand tools, dairy, foundries, and brass. The aim was to promote energy efficiency and to integrate renewables.
Project cost
The total project cost was 7.1 billion $ and 50 % of it was spent. As many as 30 pilot projects had been sanctioned so far and 20 more were in the pipeline. The industries had pooled in ₹8 crore investment so far under this project.
