STREET LIGHTING ENERGY CONSERVATION

In the year 2005, We along with Bangalore Development Authority(BDA) came together in public-partner partnership to implement street lighting energy conservation. .

The project was to be implemented on the 63 Km stretch of the outer ring road, Bangalore and some part of the inner ring road. The objective of the project was to reduce the operational and maintenance costs of the street lighting system using an Energy Management System called ETrACS (Energy Tracking and Control System).

Multiple issues regarding this project were:

• Improper Energy Metering

• No seasonal adjustment and untimely switching off street lights

• The poor power quality input to street lights and excessive illumination during off-peak hours

• Power theft from street lighting feeders

• Ineffective Monitoring and Control

• Lack of energy usage data

• Investment Issues

All the hurdles were eliminated to get the optimum result. Investment issues were eliminated through a unique model called ESCO Financing. 

In ESCO financing, the ESCO (in this case - us) typically borrows the money to finance the project. By borrowing directly from the financing institution, the ESCO becomes fully responsible for repayment. Under this financing scheme, projects have a shared savings structure.

The advantage to the Municipality/ULB/Client is that it is free of repayment obligations. 

The financing institution may either assume the rights to the energy savings payments as collateral, or they may take a security interest in the project equipment

Apart from the other obvious benefits to BDA and the general public, the project generated energy savings in tune of 40%.

BDA has saved 7.2 Crs in the 10 years of project life without investing anything in Capex.