Delhi govt audit to find power use in official buildings

The audit will provide recommendations for optimising energy usage, resulting in both energy and cost savings in electricity bills, power minister Atishi said

The Delhi government will, for the first time, carry out an energy audit of government buildings with a sanctioned load of 500 kilowatts (KW) and above to identify areas of excessive power usage, officials aware of the matter said on Friday.

Delhi power minister Atishi. (HT Archive)

Officials said that the audit by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency will help the government devise strategies to manage and control power usage in these buildings.

“The Arvind Kejriwal government is committed to conserving every unit of electricity. To achieve this, an energy audit will be conducted of all government buildings under the Delhi government. This process involves measuring the actual energy consumption of various devices and appliances within the buildings, comparing it with the estimated minimum energy required for the processes, and then identifying economically and technically feasible methods to achieve energy savings,” Delhi’s power minister Atishi said in a statement on Wednesday.

The audit will provide recommendations for optimising energy usage, resulting in both energy and cost savings in electricity bills, she said.

A Delhi government official said that government buildings such as the Delhi Secretariat and PWD headquarters at ITO, transport department office and Old Secretariat Building at Civil Lines, offices of the district magistrates, industry department office at Patparganj, Lok Nayak Hospital at Dilli Gate, DDU Hospital at Hari Nagar, DGHS office at Karkardooma, major schools, and other offices and hospitals will undergo the energy audit.

“The purpose is to identify areas of excessive energy consumption so that steps can be taken to make the buildings more energy efficient,” said the official.

The audits will also focus on streetlights. Currently, streetlight maintenance in Delhi is primarily handled by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), and the Public Works Department (PWD) .

According to government officials, MCD has replaced approximately 600,000 streetlights with LED lights. In the southern district, MCD has collaborated with EESL to replace around 300,000 streetlights with energy-efficient LEDs — 22,500 of the 92,000 maintained by PWD have already been replaced. The process of replacing the remaining streetlights is ongoing, said the officials.

“It is said that saving one unit of energy at the user end is equivalent to two units generated at the power plant. The energy-saving measures derived from these audits will help stabilise Delhi’s overall power demand. Moreover, energy audits will not only propose ways to minimise energy consumption in government buildings but will also alleviate the financial burden on the exchequer. Additionally, this initiative will contribute to reducing CO2 emissions,” Atishi said.