An unexplored sector for Energy Conservation - MSME of India

Abstract

The International Energy Outlook 2021 forecasts that India will have the fastest growing rate of energy consumption globally through 2050. The major consumer of energy in India is the Industrial sector. The Micro Small and Medium Enterprises contribute to 33.4% output of the manufacturing sector and are not mandated for regular energy audits like Large Scale industries by Bureau of Energy Efficiency and hence, Energy Conservation in MSME becomes paramount. The importance of energy conservation in MSMEs is emphasized in our study. This research paper contains a case study done in small scale corrugated boxes manufacturing unit. The energy audit involved collection and analysis of the process and equipment data, energy bills data and electrical measurements data in order to identify major energy consumers in the plant area. The study then evaluated and quantified the possible reduction in energy consumption. Based on the evaluation, various suitable Energy Conservation measures and techniques are suggested to achieve the energy savings. The recommendations suggested could save around Rs. 132,343 annually. The annual energy cost savings are approximately 15.44% of the annual energy costs of the facility. The estimated implementation cost comes to Rs. 38,200 with an average simple payback period of around 4 months. This study strongly supports the estimated energy savings of 15% by BEE in MSMEs and concludes that there is a huge untapped energy conservation potential of 3.3 metric tonnes of oil equivalent or 38 GWh of electricity or 19,000 Crore Rupees (at energy rate of Rs.5/unit) per annum in this sector.