Shahin Bepari Lambe
Panaji: Hotels, guest houses and restaurants in Calangute could potentially save 40.29 million kWh of electricity annually through measures including replacement of old air-conditioners,
improved power use, occupancy and motion sensors, and energy-efficient fans, Goa Energy Development Agency (GEDA) officials said.
According to the Energy & Resource Efficiency Implementation Roadmap prepared for the GIZ Calangute Net Zero Panchayat, replacing air-conditioners could account for the largest share of the savings, at 22.35 million kWh annually, GEDA officials said.
“Electricity-saving figures, including the Goa-wide estimate, are still at the planning stage and are approximate,” said officials.
They said it would also be assessed whether the Calangute benchmarks could be applied in other village panchayats and municipalities.
For Goa as a whole, the plausibility-corrected estimate is 71.19 million kWh of annual electricity savings, compared with a raw upper estimate of 187.42 million kWh.
The roadmap estimates another 7.59 million kWh in annual savings through power-factor correction, while occupancy and motion sensors could save 6.41 million kWh. Replacement of fans with BLDC variants could save another 3.94 million kWh annually.
“Together the measures have the potential to save 40.29 million kWh of electricity every year in Calangute,” an official said.
The plan is proposed as a phased programme involving the Calangute panchayat, property owners, hospitality associations, local contractors, GEDA, Electricity Department, Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, GIZ, Tourism Department, financial institutions and Energy Service Companies.
In the first six months, the panchayat is proposed to formally adopt the energy-saving plan, appoint a coordination point and confirm available subsidy and ESCO options. Electricity bills and sanctioned-load records of Calangute properties would also be compiled to establish a baseline.
From six to 18 months, the programme would first take up sanctioned-demand and power-factor correction because these measures have shorter payback periods. AC replacement, BLDC fans and occupancy-sensing measures would follow through performance contracts.
Between 18 and 36 months, the programme would be expanded to the remaining hotels, guest houses and restaurants, using the first properties as reference sites. A fourth phase would examine whether the programme can be replicated in other tourism-intensive talukas.
