I read with interest a recent report about the GoI's efforts to devise protocols for smoothening out ESCO operations in the country.
The concept of ESCOs has been around in India for quite a while, but the ESCOs have not made as much of a difference as they should have to industrial sustainable energy adoption or energy efficiency.
Multiple challenges have hindered its growth - from lack of awareness for many end-user companies, lack of trained personnel at the ESCO firms to ensure regular, quality maintenance, to reliable and bankable performance contracts that can be a win-win for both parties and reliable metrics, benchmarks and protocols that can engender trust among all the stakeholders (especially the industrial user of ESCO services)
The new thrust by the central government could possibly take care of many of these if implemented, and that could mean significant energy savings and greenhouse gas emissions reductions from the Indian industrial sector.
