BHUBANESWAR: Speakers at a national seminar held here on Monday underscored the need to conserve energy through efficient use in view of the huge gap between the demand and the supply. Even as the State’s energy demand is 3,000 MW a day, about 900 MW could be saved if energy conservation measures are taken with right earnest, said Managing Director of Gridco and OPTCL Hemanta Sharma. It has been estimated that the waste of power in the industrial sector is about 500 MW while it is 400 MW in the domestic sector per day. If this huge energy is saved it will not only reduce the cost of power but also reduces the capital investment in energy supply infrastructure, reduce carbon emission and help meet climate change goals, he said. Inaugurating the national seminar on “Energy Conservation - The alternative to demand side management’, Chairman of Orissa Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) SP Nanda said energy security and climate change have emerged as key global challenges which need to be addressed through energy conservation and efficient use. While technical and commercial loss of energy is about 40 per cent, Nanda said eight to 10 per cent technical loss could be saved if the distribution companies take appropriate measures. Making a strong plea for timely payment of energy bill by individual consumers, the OERC chairman said the power demand will come down by 30 per cent if consumers’ payment is 100 per cent. Executive director of the Indian Oil Corporation M Vijaywargiya said power shortage in the country would go up from the existing 10.32 per cent to 12.85 per cent in the next financial year. The energy demand should keep pace with economic growth and this could be achieved through an integrated management of demand and supply. Emphasising on energy-saving measures at all levels, Energy Secretary G Mathivathanan said while it costs ` 5 crore to generate one mega watt of energy, only ` 50 lakh is required to save the same amount of energy. He said the state-designated agencies (SDAs) are implementing energy-conservation measures at State-level. OERC member BK Mishra spoke at length about the power situation and the energy conservation measures need to be adopted to address the huge gap between the demand and the supply. LK Bisoi and Pravakar Swain spoke. The seminar was organised jointly by the State centre of Institution of Engineers, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology and Maharaja Institute of Technology.
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