A Guide Book to Implement Agriculture Demand Side Management: Studies from Water-Energy Nexus Activity (WENEXA II) Project

The book is a compilation by Tetra Tech of studies conducted under the first market driven public-private partnership between Bangalore Electricity Supply Company and an energy service company for agricultural demand-side management pilot. It will be helpful in implementing large scale program of agriculture demand side management.

The agricultural sector consumes about 23 percent of India’s electricity and 90 percent of its ground water. Although a number of initiatives have demonstrated that more efficient irrigation pump sets could save 30 to 70 percent of the sector’s electricity use, stakeholders have been unwilling to bear the costs and risks of replacing the country’s inefficient pump sets. To address this problem, the United States Agency for International Development has launched a pilot project to replace about 604 irrigation pump sets in India’s Karnataka State. The study concludes that with a nationwide investment of $12 billion in new high energy efficient pumps, India could reduce its electricity demand-supply gap from the current 11% to 3% and its annual agricultural tariff subsidy by $2 billion a year. Additionally, with improved power reliability and quality, farmers would tend to run their IPsets (Irrigation pump sets) more judiciously resulting in decreasing fall of groundwater levels.

The agricultural sector consumes about 23 percent of India’s electricity and 90 percent of its ground water. Although a number of initiatives have demonstrated that more efficient irrigation pump sets could save 30 to 70 percent of the sector’s electricity use, stakeholders have been unwilling to bear the costs and risks of replacing the country’s inefficient pump sets. To address this problem, the United States Agency for International Development has launched a pilot project to replace about 604 irrigation pump sets in India’s Karnataka State. This pilot is the first market-driven public-private partnership between Bangalore Electricity Supply Company and an energy service company for agricultural demand-side management.