Often businesses delay investing in energy efficiency mainly due to the significant upfront investment, and also, they do not want to commit their financial resources to energy assets that are not part of their core business. In such situations, the ESCOs can enable consumers in providing energy efficiency services funded by energy savings and also guarantee the savings. While the ESCOs have a high level of design & technical capabilities, and project management expertise, they have faced several challenges in raising the finance and ensuring payment security for financed projects for implementing clean technology projects in the buildings, industries, and municipal bodies.
The overall potential for EE investment in India is estimated in the range of INR 92,000 to INR 120,000 Crores, out of which commercial buildings account for INR 15,000 to INR 21,000 Crores. Only 5% of the potential is reported to have been tapped so far, mostly by EESL and some smaller ESCOs.
With this background, AEEE formed this Working Group (WG) in 2022. The WG is intended to be a platform for AEEE members to access Energy Service Companies (ESCO)-specific latest information, network, and exchange business, policy support and implementation ideas. The WG also aspires to sensitise the key decision-makers from the government and private sector to bring about an overall improvement in the ESCO business environment and scale up the ESCO market in India.
