Govt policies improve overall energy efficiency of ACs

New Delhi [India], May 10 : India's energy efficiency policies have not only led to improvement in overall energy efficiency of air-conditioners but also accelerated the deployment of highly Energy Efficient inverter technology, the ministry of power said on Wednesday.

According to data from the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) under the Ministry of Power, for split room air-conditioners (RACs), the overall energy efficiency improvement is 43 per cent for 1-Star and 61 per cent for the 5-Star level. On the other hand, the overall energy efficiency improvement for window RACs is 17 per cent for 1-Star and 13 per cent for 5-Star level.

Power and New and Renewable Energy Minister R K Singh on March 2 this year launched Voluntary Star Labelling Programme for multi-door refrigerators, table- and wall-mounted fans, pedestal fans, and induction hobs. This programme is expected to save about 11.2 billion units of electricity by 2030 and help India to transition towards low-carbon sustainable growth and achieve its ambition of net zero by 2070.

According to the statement of the power ministry released on Wednesday, the interventions by the central government have also led to an increase in the market share of the more efficient, Inverter RACs.

In 2015, the market share of variable speed (commonly known as inverter) RACs was less than 1 per cent in the overall RAC market size of 4.7 million units. In June, 2015, BEE introduced a voluntary labelling programme for inverter RACs with a new star rating methodology called Indian Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (ISEER) which was made mandatory from January 2018.

During the eight years from 2015-16 to 2022-23, the market share of the more efficient, variable speed (Inverter) RACs increased from 1 per cent to 99 per cent, while that of the fixed speed RAC, reduced from 99 per cent to 23 per cent during the same period, according to the statement.

The overall market for RACs reached 6.6 million units by 2020-21. This market transformation towards efficient technology was possible due to adoption of variable speed (inverter) RAC policy, which offers benefits to the consumers in terms of electricity and cost saving.

These interventions are part of the India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP), which aims to provide an integrated vision towards cooling across sectors encompassing inter alia reduction of cooling demand, refrigerant transition, enhancing energy efficiency and better technology options with a 20-year time horizon.

Responding to the progress made in implementation of the Star Labelling program, Alok Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Power, said that programme was achieving its intended outcomes.

Alok Kumar added that the Indian economy was growing at a rapid pace and so the demand for cooling is going to increase multifold over the next few decades. Under ICAP, a detailed action plan has been chalked out. This will ensure that while we cater to our development needs, we do it in an efficient manner. Abhay Bakre, DG, BEE said that the ICAP is a comprehensive plan covering all sectors and the government is committed to successfully implementing the ICAP.