Kerala unveils multi-pronged strategy to lead India’s climate action drive
EESL highlights Araku model at thiruvananthapuram meeting
Kerala Additional Chief Secretary, Finance KR Jyothi Lal along with Akhilesh Kumar Dixit, CEO, EESL unveiling a report on proposed energy efficiency programmes of EESL in thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram: Reaffirming its commitment to play a pivotal role in India’s national movement against climate change, the Government of Kerala has decided to adopt a comprehensive, multi-pronged strategy to accelerate energy efficiency on a saturation basis and aggressively promote renewable energy across the State.
The initiative will involve all key government departments and stakeholders, with a strong focus on deploying cutting-edge energy efficiency technologies and scaling up renewable energy adoption.
Speaking on the occasion, K R Jyothi Lal, Additional Chief Secretary (Finance), Kerala, said the State is keen to collaborate with national agencies such as Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL)—a joint venture of Central PSUs under the Ministry of Power, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, MNRE, and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
During the meeting, the Araku near Visakhapatnam, India's prominent tourist centre's innovative model of energy efficiency that is, Air Source heat pump (ASHP) technology was highlighted.
The key advantages of Araku initiative include annual energy savings of 50 to 70 per cent, reduction of approximately 300 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year with low maintenance requirements and eco- friendly refrigerant.
“Our objective is to make Kerala a national champion in combating climate change while continuing to deliver highly cost-effective and high-quality services to consumers, protecting the interests of future generations and ensuring economic and environmental sustainability,” Jyothi Lal said.
As part of this long-term vision, the Government of Kerala has set ambitious targets to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and 100 percent renewable energy by 2040.
In pursuit of sustained economic and energy savings—and to reduce the financial burden on the State exchequer —Jyothi Lal, along with Minhaj Alam CMD, KSEB
Patil Ajit, Keshvendra Kumar, Secretaries, Finance Department, Harshil. R. Meena CEO, ANERT and Hari Kumar Director EMC and K N Mathew State head, Energy Efficiency, held a high-level meeting with a Delhi-based EESL delegation led by Akhilesh Kumar Dixit, CEO, EESL.
The discussions focused on deploying advanced energy efficiency technologies across multiple sectors to meet the state’s climate and energy goals.
Kerala wants deployment of high-efficiency LED streetlights across State and expansion of public electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, converting 25,000 government buildings into prosumers.
