OREANDA-NEWS. Tata Power, India's largest integrated power utility, has always been at the forefront of propagating energy efficiency and energy conservation in the country. Tata Power has taken pioneering steps to meet the ever-growing power needs of Mumbai and thus allowing the city to retain its premium status of being the commercial capital of the country. In line with this commitment, the company announced the launch of India's first 'thermal energy storage incentive programme' based on 'thermal energy storage technology' under the demand side management (DSM) initiative. Under its 'my Mumbai green Mumbai' programme, Tata Power has launched a refrigerator exchange programme and has re-opened the AC programme to allow consumers to exchange their electrical appliances for more energy efficient appliances.

In the first phase of this initiative, Tata Power enrolled a thermal storage capacity of over 15,000 TRH which has achieved a load shift of more than 3.6 million units of energy from peak to off-peak hours. Through the 'thermal energy storage incentive programme' Tata Power promotes energy efficiency by shifting load from peak hours to off-peak hours by using practical, financially viable and proven technologies. With the use of 'thermal energy storage technology', the central AC plants run in the night and converts water into ice. During day-time, the AC plants are switched off and the building is cooled by the energy stored in the form of ice. Thus, air-conditioning is provided during the day-time without actually running the large AC plants.

Speaking on the occasion, S Padmanabhan, executive director, operations, Tata Power, said, “Today, with the increase in number of commercial buildings in Mumbai, there is already a huge difference between peak load and off peak load. Our 'thermal energy storage incentive programme' will not only support our consumers to bring down the peak power requirements but will offer a monetary benefit on each unit of electricity shifted from peak hour to off-peak hour as an incentive. This programme will not only help the consumers with an additional incentive but also enable the overall power system to bring down the peak power requirements. We, at Tata Power, have always endeavoured to provide world-class services to our customers. We have received an overwhelming response for the programme and will continue to sensitise our consumers with the benefits of managing their demand.”

Tata Power consumers participating in the programme include Hotel Meluha, Supreme IT Park, GCC Club, etc. have effectively installed this technology at their premises and have optimised their electricity bills on account of reduced demand charges, judicious use of time-of-day (ToD) tariff and improvement in load factor without any compromise to the comfort of air conditioning. Tata Power provides online metering system for the consumer's chiller plants and preciously measures the load shift achieved by the consumer using thermal storage technology.

Under its 'my Mumbai green Mumbai' programme, Tata Power encourages consumers to be energy conscious and allows them to exchange their inefficient electrical appliances with energy efficient appliances. After the successful implementation of the ceiling fan exchange programme, Tata Power has now opened AC and refrigerator programmes. The customers can now avail a brand new energy efficient refrigerator and split air conditioner at a discounted price ranging up to 40 percent on MRP in exchange of their old product. A total of 2,000 ACs will be sold through this programme on first come first serve basis. In less than three months, 1,000 refrigerators have been booked for replacement. The schemes are customer friendly. Interested consumers can put their request online to get the refrigerator and AC exchanges at their doorstep. The offer is available for both single and double door refrigerators. Also for 5 star energy efficient split ACs, various models of 1 tonne and 1.5 tonne are made available. The products of reputed manufacturers are offered with warrantees of considerable duration. The old inefficient appliances removed from customer premises, will not be resold but will be scrapped in an environmentally friendly manner. Tata Power has been proactively supporting its consumers in Mumbai in taking these important steps towards energy efficiency.