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India’s Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL), which has been given the mandate to implement energy saving projects in Ras Al Khaimah, is exploring similar projects in Dubai and other emirates.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed last week between Ras Al Khaimah Municipality and EESL, a joint venture of Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) under India’s power ministry, for strategic collaboration in the areas of energy efficiency and clean energy projects.
Saurabh Kumar, Executive Vice Chairperson, EESL Group & Munther Mohammed bin Shekar, Director General, Ras Al Khaimah Municipality sign the MoU
EESL, which has various models for execution, funding, project management and investment, is offering a novel investment model in which the service company will invest, and the municipal body will pay back from its quantified energy savings.
EESL will make investments of up to $100 million and develop customised project models relevant to Ras Al Khaimah, said Saurabh Kumar, Executive Vice Chairperson, EESL Group, who signed the MoU with Munther Mohammed bin Shekar, Director General of Ras Al Khaimah Municipality.
“EESL can fund the whole project and get paid over a five or 10-year cycle from the savings. There are plenty of funds and banks willing to lend,” he added.
EESL is also exploring such arrangements with other emirates, particularly Dubai Municipality, DEWA and a few private and public sector entities, he said.
The MoU establishes a framework for collaboration across various energy efficiency and renewable energy programmes in support of Ras Al Khaimah Energy Efficiency & Renewables Strategy 2040, which targets 30 percent energy savings, 20 percent water savings, and 20 percent contribution of electricity from renewable sources by 2040.
“The partnership is across sectors, to bring in energy efficiency, clean energy and use techniques which save overall energy use in this municipal body. This includes lighting, both domestic lighting and public lighting,” he said.
The Indian company will support the municipality in implementing clean energy and energy efficiency projects under its Integrated Energy Efficiency Service (IEES) model. The model includes consumer-based efficient appliances programme, industrial energy efficiency programme, building energy efficiency programme, utility-scale solar programme, trigeneration, national motor replacement programme and national E-mobility programme.
EESL, which raised $2 billion for various projects in India, has executed projects for 1,500 municipal corporations across the country, making it the largest energy service company in the world. It has also carried out 370 million domestic lighting and 12 million public lighting replacements in India.
“One model offered is, if EESL has an agreement with the establishment, they will pay from the savings, and EESL can raise capital.
“Another model is, if the establishment has enough funds to finance the project, EESL becomes the project management consultant.
“We guarantee savings, so our payment is linked to the savings we have promised. Capital is not a challenge,” he said.
“At the moment we are looking at about $100 million [of] investments in the next two years. We will see how it works and then scale it up. In our portfolio, the financing side has BOT (build, operate and transfer) and PMC (project management consultancy) modes, wherein we design the project and help the client implement,” Kumar said.
EESL has operations in the UK, Thailand and the Maldives. The company has been advising the Saudi government for the past four five years, particularly on the building energy efficiency and the street lighting programme.
(Reporting by Bhaskar Raj; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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