District energy is coming to Smart Cities in India kickingoff with Rajkot, Gujarat, the first Indian city to include district cooling in their Smart City Plan. Aworkshop ‘Cooling Smart Cities – The Arrival of District Energy in India’ in Rajkot was co-organized by UN Environment, ICLEI South Asia, Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL),the International Solar Alliance and hosted by Rajkot Municipal Corporation.
Giving the keynote address, MrJagadip Narayan Singh, Chief Secretary, Gujarat said, “Iwelcome the city of Rajkot leading efforts on district cooling, building on the example of GIFTCity to demonstrate how it should be an integral part of all Smart City planning. Rajkot is anengineering hub and district cooling will give it a boost. The state government is fully behind thisinitiative and will support it financially. So will the state utility and GEDA.”
UN Environment, in partnership with ICLEI South Asia, has worked with Rajkot to prepare the ground for a district energy system and the long-term planning processes that can accelerate this efficient approach to power, heating and cooling. This has led to the development of a $49 million district cooling project in Rajkot, saving up to 50% of Co2 and electricity, significantly 2 reducing harmful refrigerants and improving reliable power sources for the local grid – reducing peak demand up to 30MW.
“Today is an important day on the road towards sustainable cooling in India. As India’s cities expand it is imperative that district energy is assessed and incorporated into urban planning at an early stage. We urge the government of India to incorporate district energy as a central technology for smart cities, following the example of Rajkot,” said AtulBagai, Country Head, UN Environment, India.
By 2050, scenarios show that space cooling could reach 28% of India’s electricity demand and44% of peak load. With the addition of electric mobility, India’s 100 smart cities of the future willbe some of the largest consumers of electricity in the world. Cities globally are proving that acity entirely dependent on the state/national electricity grid is not smart and are dramaticallyrethinking how to localise power consumption, integrate energy systems, supply low-carbonheating and cooling and recycle energy and resources within a city to maximise efficiency.
“The rapid evolution of technologies such as UN Environment’s District Energy has influence onthe development of Smart Cities. Trigeneration in Smart Cities can address India’s future energyneeds of 1250-1500 MT of oil equivalent by 2030,” said Saurabh Kumar, Managing Director,EESL.
The UN Environment-led District Energy in Cities Initiative has been working with partners suchas EESL and in cities such as Rajkot, Thane and Amaravati with projects under development toadvance this technology into the mainstream allowing cities to take some control of energyproduction and demand. While Thane was the first pilot city to incorporate district energycooling, Rajkot being the second pilot city has become the first to incorporate district cooling inits Smart City plan.
Tag: Smart Cities, Rajkot, Gujarat, Mr.Jagadip Narayan Singh, UN, Saurabh Kumar