Indo German Symposium on Energy Efficiency

India and Germany face similar challenges in the energy sector, with regard to both sustainable energy development and security of energy supply. India and Germany, therefore, set up the Indo-German Energy Forum in 2006 to strengthen dialogue and expand bilateral cooperation in this area of importance as part of their strategic partnership. The forum had decided in December, 2007 to constitute three ad-hoc sub-groups for furthering cooperation in the areas of Efficiency enhancement in fossil fuels based power plants, Decentralized Distributed Generation based on biomass and other Renewables, and CDM projects in the energy sector.

There are a number of key areas of mutual interest which offer immense opportunities for intensified bilateral cooperation between India and Germany. These, inter-alia include; reduction of cost of power generation through introduction of efficient technologies, increase in thermal efficiency in the existing power plants, and bringing greater focus on demand side management through promotion of energy efficient buildings including retrofitting.

Under the aegis of the Indo-German Energy Forum, the Ministry of Power, Government of India, and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany, a two day Indo-German Symposium on Energy Efficiency has been organised during May 15-16, 2008 at New Delhi.

Inaugurating the event, Minister of State for Power and Commerce, Shri Jairam Ramesh, stressed the need to develop energy efficiency and innovative building technologies in view of climate change and changing weather patterns. Observing that India with 17% of the world population only amounts to about 4.5% of green house gas emissions, he said that there has to be greater use of coal if India’s economy is to grow at the rate of 8%. However, adoption of low carbon technologies, the Minister suggested, would be the way to the future. Recalling the history of Indo-German cooperation in power sector, he expressed hope that the symposium would give an opportunity to learn what Germany can provide to India in terms of technology and resources in energy efficiency.

The keynote addresses were delivered by Mr. Rakesh Nath, Chairperson, Central Electricity Authority (CEA) and Mr. Andreas Obersteller, Deputy Director General, Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, Germany. Earlier, Mr. G.B. Pradhan, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Power welcomed the gathering.

The Symposium shall focus on two main aspects of energy efficiency i.e. energy efficiency in thermal plants and energy efficiency in buildings. This symposium will include deliberations and discussions on India's expansion plan for power generation, its future technological requirement, state of the art plants and future research efforts, existing efficiency benchmarks which are available in German and European power sector. The symposium will also guide all the power producers, planners, designers regarding current efforts of efficiency improvement, India's requirement for efficiency related programmes, economic and environmental benefits and implementation of efficiency enhancement measures.

The sharing of studies on energy efficiency in Germany and India by Indian and international experts and offering an exchange of views, technical solutions and best practices between technical specialists, policy makers and the private sector, the Symposium aims at facilitating the efficient implementation of concrete projects and developing corresponding policy recommendations in order to strengthen energy efficiency in identified areas. Supporting measures in this regard, which when introduced on a broad scale, would not only facilitate energy conservation on a sustainable basis but also significantly contribute towards climate protection through introduction of efficient technologies and would also open up options for development of projects in India with Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) benefits.

Source: Press Information Bureau
Date: : May 15, 2008