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Do
you think energy management and
conservation is gaining ground in India? If yes, what are the major
factors, which are responsible for greater interest in these measures?
Need to compete globally is making the
industry look for ways and means to reduce the cost of production.
The industry is looking at various alternatives to reduce consumption
of energy much more today as compared to past few years. While it
is not easy to reduce manpower and material costs, energy consumption
is one area which offers many opportunities for reduction. The factors
making it necessary are raising costs of energy, reduced availability
and environmental implications. High costs of energy can result
in declining profit margins that will further dwindle with the expected
increase in energy prices. Also there is a gap between the demand-supply
equilibrium of energy due to higher per capita consumption with
rising incomes. Setting up more power plants is not a solution because
of high capital requirement and inability of earth to accept more
and more carbon emissions. The only answer is better management
of energy and intensive energy conservation.
Do you feel that more efforts are needed
to educate people in the area of energy management
and conservation? Are you satisfied with the current efforts?
The Central Government has set up the Bureau of Energy
Efficiency under Energy Conservation Act 2001.Some of the State
Governments and Government undertakings are still reluctant to do
anything meaningful in this effort. There is a need to make people
realize the necessity of energy conservation by stronger measures
by the Govt. For the industry my viewpoint is that training and
education of managers as well as the workers in energy efficiency
is the need of the hour. Some module or statute should be passed
by which government can create energycontrol awareness. The only
way CEO’s of firms will appreciate training of their employees
is the economic and competitive pressure, which the market offers.
Does
Energy Conservation Act 2001 adequately address all the issues on
energy conservation?
Yes, Certainly. Electricity Act 2001 has been very well thought
out. The Government has already undertaken suitable steps and the
Bureau too is playing an active role. If all the stakeholders sincerely
implement the measures outlined in the Act there can be immense
outflow of benefits not only to country but even for global environment.
Do
you provide energy management solutions to every Industry? Which
are the sectors you specialize in providing energy management solutions?
Which are the sectors you think, have major scope for energy conservation?
Any commercial, Industrial user of power ranging from a small roller
mill, or a 5 –star hotel to a steel plant or chemical complex
that uses power is our client. Some of the energy intensive industry
segments like cement, textiles, commercial complexes, chemicals
and power plants (for their internal consumption) have accepted
our solution and benefited from them. However, there are many segments
which need to have closer look at their energy consumption levels
and be willing to invest in the solutions. These industries more
often than not, do not have long term business perspective and either
ignore the energy efficiency or look at some cheap and ineffective
means. Most of the industry facing global or internal competition
looks for energy efficiency through all possible means.
What
will be the cost impact of installing your energy management system?
The cost of energy management systems (EMS) can vary from Rs 50,000
to 50 Lakhs. A company operating in smaller scale can use our basic
system and progressively increase the coverage of EMS as it gains
more confidence in using the system. The cost of EMS depends on
the size of the plant, or a shopping mall or any manufacturing unit.
Prices could also vary according to the objectives of the customer
for using this system. It can be to improve the quality of power
or budgeting, costing of power or pricing of the product depending
upon the objective of the company.
Tell
us about the features of your latest innovation in this field?
Conzerv has devised an Energy Improvement Program (EIP) which enables
a customer to avail of energy efficiency consultation by remote
means. In EIP the concerned plant or industry will have instruments
and sensors to measure the consumption. This data is then sent thru
web based means to our offices and viewed by our experts continuously.
These experts study the consumption patterns and advise the customer
on line for taking steps to control the consumption or suggest alternate
means for achieving energy efficiency. This is a good example of
outsourcing consultation.
Other
than such services do you also manufacture devices which a consumer
can be used directly for energy savings?
Yes, we have in our range a very popular devise called Lighting
Energy Saver which we call CooLite. This device can save 20% of
energy consumed in lighting. It has been widely used by hospitals,
textile mills, shopping malls, commercial complexes, street lighting
in industrial townships etc
What
initiatives you have taken as a social responsibility to conserve
energy?
Yes, we have started a new initiative called “Conserve my Campus”.
This is a program to educate the children on conservation of energy
and environment. As children are the future generation, they need
to be educated to protect the environment and conserving energy.
Tell
us about your customer base and global presence?
Conzerv has come a long way and has now become a global brand synonymous
with conservation of energy and environment. We have more than 500
energy management installations, 168 energy audits, 87 power quality
audits, 30 PFI panel installations, 8 BEE accredited and 10 certified
auditors to our credit in Conzerv.
We are present in more than 30 counties with 123 global dealers
and more than 28000 satisfied customers.
What
are your companies future plans?
Other than energy, there are certain resources like water which
are likely to be in short supply is not too distant future. Our
conservation capabilities will be put use for these resources.
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