Energy Efficiency Fans to Replace Traditional Fans in Andhra Pradesh

 

Come summer, select consumers in Andhra Pradesh will have the choice of buying star-rated energy efficient fans for their houses. 

A pilot project conceived and designed by the Andhra Pradesh Energy Department in partnership with Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a joint venture of PSU companies under the Union Ministry of Power, attempts to change the way people look at energy efficiency.

It started with advocating a shift to LED bulbs for domestic lighting and street lighting, then went on to promote solar-powered energy efficient pump sets and is now expanding to cover fans in households and commercial buildings.

Through this, new generation star-rated fans will be available to consumers. 

Narasapuram in West Godavari district will be the first region to be supplied around 1,00,000 fans on a first-come first-serve basis with two fans as a cap for a household under the Domestic Energy Efficient Fans programme. While EESL shall take up the responsibility of warranty for two years, the installation will be made by the consumer, assisted by the manufacturer and local electrician.

The State Energy Conservation Cell has estimated that the pilot project for supply of one lakh fans will bring about a saving of about ₹5.81 crore per annum and bring down load by 5.5 mega on the system.

According to the State Eneregy Conservation Mission, a ceiling fan without any star rating is rated at 75 watt as against a Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) rated five-star fan estimated at 40 watts. This is a direct saving of 35 watts. 

Assuming that a fan is used for 14 hours a day and for 300 days in a year, a five-star rated fan helps save about 0.49 kWH per day and 147 kWH per year. 

And when all the one lakh fans are deployed, it will help save about 14.70 million kWH. This is estimated to help bring down load on the system by about 5.5 mw. 

For the distribution companies, this will enable them to save ₹5.81 crore per annum at ₹3.95 per unit supplied to a consumer.

According to Ajay Jain, State Secretary Energy and Infrastructure, “Under the programme, BEE rated five-star fans will be distributed to the consumers and the amount spent by the government for supply of fans will be recovered from the consumer’s electricity bills, upfront or over a period of 24 months.”

“Once the one lakh fans project is executed by April, we plan to expand this scheme and supply five lakh fans by covering more areas.”

Under the initiative there is a cap on the number of fans a domestic consumers will be offered (two), commercial entities (five) and institutional users (10 fans) each.

After the tender process, the supply price of a five-star rated fan has worked out to ₹955 as against the market price of ₹1,500 each.

The initiative is part of the demand side management measure with the support of EESL and guided by the BEE and the Union Power Ministry