Kerala launches aggressive energy efficiency plan

Thiruvananthapuram/Hyderabad: Ina major boost to India’s climate action agenda, the Government of Kerala on Saturday unveiled a comprehensive strategy to aggressively implement energy efficiency measures and promote renewable energy across the state. The initiative aims to reduce the financial burden on the state exchequer while delivering cost-effective, high-quality energy services.

Kerala has set ambitious targets to achieve 100 per cent renewable energy by 2040 and total carbon neutrality by 2050. KR Jyothi Lal, Additional Chief Secretary (Finance), stated that the government will collaborate closely with national agencies, including the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), to deploy advanced technologies across all sectors.

A high-level meeting was recently held with an EESL delegation led by CEO Akhilesh Kumar Dixit, alongside senior officials from KSEB, ANERT, and the Energy Management Centre (EMC). A flagship proposal from these discussions includes converting nearly 25,000 government buildings into "prosumers."

By solarising these structures and integrating Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), the state hopes to slash its annual electricity expenditure of nearly Rs 300 crore and sell surplus power back to the grid during peak hours.

The roadmap also includes a statewide replacement of conventional streetlights with LED lighting and a massive expansion of public electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure. The state plans to amend building codes to enforce energy conservation and introduce energy-efficient appliances for housing scheme beneficiaries. Additionally, 12,000 government vehicles will be electrified, with the state exploring Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology.

In a related development, officials reviewed the PM E-DRIVE scheme, which is set to deploy 10,900 electric buses nationwide. Under this scheme, Hyderabad has been sanctioned 2,000 e-buses to improve urban air quality. Kerala’s leadership in the clean energy transition was recently recognised with the National Energy Conservation Award.