From Induction Stove to Solar Cookers : Missing Link

 

 

Context :

National Efficient Cooking Programme    04 Nov 2023

 

Extract :

About the National Efficient Cooking Programme:

 

 

·         It is a subset of the Clean Cooking Scheme.

 

·         It focuses on Non-Solar/Electricity-based Induction Cook-stoves, aligning with the Go- electric initiative by the

 

 Ministry of Power.

 

·         This programme introduces induction-based cook-stoves.

 

·         Target: To deploy 20 Lakh Induction cook-stoves across India.

 

·         EESL seeks to reduce the environmental impact of cooking methods, ensuring cleaner air and improved health for citizens.

 

·         EESL has also partnered with Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS) for the large-scale deployment of induction cooktops.

 

·         The deployment is expected to accelerate the acceptance and large-scale adoption of modern electric cooking devices in Indian kitchens.

 

·         Benefit: It offers a cost advantage of 25-30% over traditional cooking methods, promising both energy savings and cost-effective cooking solutions.

 

 

 

Key Facts about Energy Efficiency Services Limited

 

·         It is promoted by the Ministry of Power, Government of India, as a Joint Venture of four reputed public-sector undertakings NTPC Limited, Power Finance Corporation Limited, REC Limited and POWERGRID Corporation of India Limited.

 

 

 

·         It was formed to create and sustain market access to energy efficient technologies, particularly in public facilities like municipalities, buildings, agriculture, industry etc. and to implement several schemes of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Ministry of Power and Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, Government of India.

 

·         It is also leading the market-related activities of the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE).

 

 

National Efficient Cooking Programme launched, to promote affordable and energy-efficient induction cookers – EQ

Extract :

Addressing the gathering comprising the proud officials of EESL and others, the Union Power & NRE Minister underlined the strategic imperative due to which a shift towards electric cooking is necessary.

 

“We have cooking based on imported Liquified Natural Gas. We can afford it financially, but in strategic terms, it is not advisable to depend on other countries for energy needs. This is one reason we need to shift from imported sources of energy to indigenous forms; and one way to do that is to shift our cooking to electricity.”

 

“Absolutely no difference between food cooked using e-cooking and gas stoves”

The Minister stressed that there is no difference in food cooked on flame versus that cooked using induction cookers. “We need to propagate this; all organizations under Ministry of Power and Ministry of New & Renewable Energy will help in propagating this, all organizations will get together to bring to every household the advantages of shifting to electric cooking, in terms of price and availability.”

 

“E-Cooking will reduce cooking costs of poor families”

Shri Singh explained how a shift to electric cooking will help the ordinary citizen. “Even though we subsidize our gas cylinders, many poor families are not able to afford buying gas cylinders. So, this brings us back to cooking based on fossil fuels. Electric cooking, I believe, is the answer to this problem; especially for poor consumers, if they switch over to electric cooking, it will reduce their cooking costs, after accounting for cost of electricity as well.”

 

 

“Solar Based Induction Cooking Solution – Solar ICS”     

 

Mode: Virtual meeting Date: 25th March 2023   Timings : 11:00 to 14:00

 

Objective of the Consultation Meet:

 

EESL plans to initiate market-based interventions for Solar based Induction cooking solutions by leveraging Carbon financing for a financially and environmentally sustainable market model.

 

EESL published EOI on 4th March 2023 to seek public consultations on the proposed model of implementation of large scale solar based electric cooking interventions, technical specifications, alternate models of implementation, if any; and a design of a suitable M&V device to facilitate an easy validation and verification for Carbon financing

 

Project Team: Mr. Abhishek Gupta – Project Head, Mr. Girja Shankar – Technical Head, Mr. Tarun Tayal – Head (BD), Mr. Ravi Prakash – Lead (BD), Ms. Disha Khosla – Stakeholder Coordinator.

 

EESL signs Rs 110 cr agreements with APSHCL to provide energy solutions    BS  / 25 July 2023

Extract :

 

Another Rs 50-crore agreement with Loughborough University, UK, signed under the Modern Energy Cooking Service (MECS) programme, EESL aims to drive large-scale promotion and deployment of electric cooking in India.

 

Stakeholders Consultation Meet On Solar based Induction Cooking Solution     /     25-03-2023   

 

1.     Average household consumption:

      7-9 LPG cylinders annually and spends over 3-4 hours per day for

    cooking. In rural areas also biomass-based cooking spends similar

    time pattern.

 

      

2.     As against a requirement of 2.58 – 3.31 units of electricity for

      cooking, in India, 1 kWp solar panel can produce average electricity

      between 4 to 5 kWh (kilowatt-hours) per day.

 

   Annual generation is between 1460 to 1825 kWh. 

 1kWp system can cater cooking requirements* for both type of

 households using average seven or nine number of cylinders for a period

 of 7 Years.

3.     Solar Panel Specification:

      Wp 1000 (2) Solar Charge Controller (48V) A 30 (3) Battery

     (Considering the 70-100% loading with back up time of 2 to 2.85 Hrs)

      Ah 50 (4) Induction Cook Stove W 1200

      

    Assumption: depreciation for seven years in generation on an average

    2% annually and charge controller and battery losses of 5%

        

4.     Demand Aggregation :

     ❑ Intended / target quantity

        1 Lakh/ 25,000 quantity for demonstration 

        

      ❑ Target states/UT

         for demonstration at scale: Uttar Pradesh , Ladakh & Other states 

      ❑ Deployment model: 

       Selection of suppliers shall be done on L1 basis on individual bulk

       procurement.

        

      ❑ Auction of Services

        for Investment, Installation, and commissioning of such equipment

       to Rural and Urban Households against supply of equipment by EESL

       ❑ Upfront payment to EESL 

          to be made against the delivery of such equipment to the service

          providers.

        

      ❑ Selection of Service providers

        shall be on H1 basis, with a minimum price pegged at the cost of all

        products provided to such a bidder along with an added

        percentage of procurement PMC charges of EESL.

       

    ❑ Benefits of subsidies, 

       if any, including Solar Rooftop could be leveraged in the

       business model to reduce the costs. 

    ❑ 100% benefits of Carbon Credit ownership shall be passed on to the

        Service providers

5.     S o l a r P a n el:

      Te c h n o - c o m m e r ci a l s Proposed by EESL 1. 2X500/ 3X 335

   Watt (Peak) Mono Crystalline Solar Panel along with standard mounting

   structure, cables and accessories

      

6.     S o l a r C h a r g e C o n t r o l l e r :

      Te c h n o - c o m m e r c i a l s Proposed by EESL 1. 48V 30A PWM

      solar charge controller suitable for 2 hours backup

       

7.     B a t t e r y :

      Te c h n o - c o m m e r ci a l s Proposed by EESL 1. Battery Pack:

      48V 50Ah Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery and having cycle life

    >2000 ,16S 30 A BMS along with Enclosure

      

8.     I n d u c t i o n C o o k s t o v e :

      Te c h n o - c o m m e r c i a l s Proposed by EESL 1. 48 V 1200 W

  Induction Cookstove (DC cookstove, preferably with efficiency

 parameters in the range of 5 star labeled BEE rating for induction hob)

      

      

9.     Financing options :

     ➢ Government subsidies ➢ Loans for renewable energy projects ➢

     Leasing: The user pays a monthly fee to use the system, without

  having to pay the full upfront cost of the system. ➢ Crowd

 funding ➢ Carbon credits, etc.

     

     

10.  What are the upfront costs/requirements

 

    ➢ Solar Panel ➢ Charge Controller ➢ Battery ➢ Induction Cookstove

    ➢ Accessories, Cables,  awareness, M&V, etc.

      

11.  Costs of solar-based induction cooking 

      solutions compare to traditional cooking solutions in the long run ?

     ➢ Energy efficiency ➢ Lower maintenance costs ➢ Reduced fuel costs

     ➢ Long lifespan ➢ Environmental benefits

     

12.  Carbon financing 

      can be a powerful tool to support the adoption ?

    ➢ Revenue generation ➢ Investment ➢ Subsidies ➢ Awareness-

       raising   

 Challenges associated with financing solar-based induction cooking

 solutions ➢ Upfront costs ➢ Limited understanding of the technology

     

    ➢ Lack of regulatory support ➢ Behaviourial issues

13.  How the carbon credits will be evaluated 

    in the case of the Solar powered Induction cookstoves and Grid

    powered Induction Cookstoves.

 

Ujjwala Yojana: Govt likely to increase LPG subsidy again, 9.5 crore beneficiaries to get relief   / 08 Nov 2023

 

Extract :

 

The sources said the government is preparing to provide relief to the beneficiaries of the scheme (Ujjwala Yojana) before the Lok Sabha elections next year and amidst festival season

At present, these beneficiaries get a subsidy of Rs.300 on 12 cylinders in a year. A decision on additional relief under the Ujjwala scheme may be taken in the coming months. ( ie; Rs 3600 / year )

At present, beneficiaries of Ujjwala Yojana pay Rs.603 for a cylinder, while the average customer pays Rs 903 in Delhi.

The government had started the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana in the year 2016 for the poor to provide relief from traditional oven which causes  smoke

 

My Observations :

Ø  Although EOI ( Expression of Interest ) was published 8 months ago ( March 2023 ) , there is no further news about this thereafter. Could it be that no party came forward to express interest ?

Ø  Power requirement for one Induction Stove is 1 Kw . That would require a Solar Panel of approx. 100 sq ft.

    If a building has 20 flats ( each with an Induction Stove ), that would need a

    roof area of 2,000 sq ft !

    Just impossible to find such a large roof . And this requirement is just for

    powering Induction Stoves .

    And let us not forget that , as of today, that power ( supplied by local

    DISCOMS ), is DIRTY power ( meaning , generated in power plants

    using FOSSIL FUEL )

      

Ø  If one was to take into account , the TOTAL electric power need of a typical 2 bedroom flat , it could well be 5 KWh . That would require solar installation of 500 sq ft.

 

       For 20 flats , that would work out to 10,000 sq ft .

       No building has enough roof area for taking care of entire power needs of

      all the flats in a building.

       This is the main reason, ROOF TOP solar installations have failed to take

       off in India

 

 

Ø  Govt gives a subsidy of Rs 300 / cylinder , for 12 cylinders per year. That is Rs 3,600 / year. This is given to 9.5 crore UJWALA families, amounting to total subsidy amount of Rs 34,200 crore / year

 

Ø  EESL plans to “ deploy “ 20 lakh Induction Stoves. Assuming price of each stove at Rs 3,000 , even if that stove is given away FREE ( 100 % purchase subsidy ), that would be equivalent to subsidy for 10 cylinders ! A pay-back period of 10 months - LESS THAN ONE YEAR !

 

MY  SUGGESTION :

 

       #  Can we have the Cake – and eat it too ?

       #  By that I mean > 

           Can we have Induction Stoves powered by Solar Power – but

           without need for Roof Top installations ?

           

       

Dear Shri Vishal Kapoor

( CEO – EESL  / ceo@eesl.co.in ) :

 

Abra ka Dabra /  Sim Sim Khulja  !

Thanks to an innovative Startup SundayGrids , this is NOW possible !

If you ask : What business is EESL in ?

Then the answer is very clear . EESL is not in the business of “ deploying “ Induction Stoves

EESL is in the business of promoting “ Energy Efficiency “

And that requires using Solar Power to operate those 20 lakh Induction Stoves

For details of how EASILY that could be done, please phone Mr Mathew Samuel ( CEO , SundayGrids ) , after perusing :

Ø  Congratulations , Mathew Samuel ……………………….. 10 Nov 2023

 

With regards,

Hemen Parekh

www.hemenparekh.ai  /  11 Nov 2023