This document summarizes an energy conservation project in small tea processing units in South India. The project aimed to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in the tea sector. It provided energy audits and recommendations to over 100 tea factories, resulting in investments of over $135 million in energy efficient equipment. This led to estimated annual energy savings of over 15,000 MWh and 250,000 tons of avoided CO2 emissions. Key challenges included gaining buy-in from factories, but the project demonstrated that technical support can drive energy reforms without financial incentives. It provided a model for scaling up energy efficiency in the tea industry.

1. ENERGY CONSERVATION IN SMALL SECTOR TEA
PROCESSING UNITS IN SOUTH INDIA
Executing agency: Tea Board of India
Implementing agency: TIDE
GEF agency: UNDP
Focal area: climate change
GEF grant: US$ 0.975
Co-financing: US$ 1.1million
Concept approval date: October 2005
CEO endorsement date: 25 July 2007

2. PROJECT STAKEHOLDERS
Tea Board
TIDE
UPASI
ELPRO – energy auditors
Tea factories in south India
Equipment suppliers
Commercial lending institutions

3. Overview of the tea sector

Global tea production (2010) 4162 million kg

Global tea exports – 42%

India’s tea production (2010) 966 million kg

Current turnover of the industry INR 195,000
million

4. India and the major tea producers

5. The south Indian tea sector


Production 241 million kgs ( export about 30%)
Price realization US4 178 million

6. Specific energy cost and consumption

7. Project Objective

To reduce energy
consumption from tea
processing units in
South India, thereby
restricting Greenhouse
Gases emissions

To remove barriers to
energy conservation
and energy efficiency
that inhibit the
realization of large
energy saving potential
in the tea sector

8. The project outcomes

Awareness creation among the target sector about
energy efficiency/ renewable energy technologies and
their relation to profitability

Elimination of financial barriers that inhibit investment
in energy conservation equipment

Adoption and procurement of energy efficiency/
renewable energy equipment/ practice

Learning, knowledge sharing and replication

9. Barriers and risks in energy use reform

10. Project design, issues, barriers, interventions

11. PROJECT MANAGEMENT
ARRANGEMENTS
Qq
PSC
Chairman Tea Board
qq
UPASI –
Planter’s
Association
Technical Team
for
Implementation
NPD, Executive Director,
Tea Board Coonoor
National Project
Manager, TIDE
Accounts and
audit
Technical
Advisory
Committee
Documentation

12. Key components of project implementation

13. KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTS

Well defined project baseline from
data collected from all tea factories
in south India.

Energy audit reports from 100
factories (about 40% of the factories
covered)

100 TIDE technical reports
-Equipment and factory specific
post audit energy consumption
reports to establish energy savings
as recommended.

Energy score card as a self
assessment tool

14. KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTS





A set of 10 films as video
tutorials on each of the energy
audit recommendation.
14 newsletters with articles,
information and updates
About 15 power point
presentations on energy
conservation
Directory of energy efficient
equipment suppliers
Article published in MSME
journal

16. Detailed energy audits

18. Representative structure of energy score card
Category
Credits
A. General
33
B. Day to day operations
48
Withering
7
CTC
14
Fermentation
3
Dryer
13
Sifting / packing
4
Reconditioning
3
Illumination
4
C. Housekeeping
19
Total
100

19. Post audit performance studies

20. Investments made in energy conservation
Category
No of
factories
Investments
in electrical
Investments
(thermal)
Total (million
Rs)
CTC
65
12.88
26.04.
38.91
Orthodox
13
3.28
28.11
31.39
Green
2
0.18
0.79
0.97
Recently
started
9
0.49
0.50
0.99
HML group
12
5.00
50
55.0
BBTC group
9
2.00
6.0
8.0
Total
110
28.83
11.441
135.26

21. Equipment wise investments in 100
factories

22. Impact Analysis (CO2 mitigation)
CO2 Mitigation in 4 years tons
Type
Audited
Factories
Electrical
Thermal
CTC
63
13 510
1 98 242
Orthodox
23
2 085
50 115
Total
86
15 595
2 48 357
Grand Total
2 63 952

23. CHALLENGES

To get the buy in from the tea factories

The need to combine committed project deliverables
with constantly evolving need and dynamic risk
perception.

Difficult to attract quality human resource as project
was implemented from a small town (Coonoor).

Technical documentation was often challenging as
most technically competent people did not have
matching writing or communication skills.

24. LEARNING





Technology a barrier and not access to finance as was
understood at the time of project conceptualization.
Understood that energy use reform can be initiated through
awareness and technical support without any financial
incentives
The tea sector is extremely demanding and would reject any
recommendation that is not backed by adequate data and
information..
All risk is dynamic and constantly changing. Decisions on
energy use reform are complex and they are not driven by
techno economics, equipment specifications or CO2 reduction
potential alone.
The project has developed some insights into how to gauge
the need and the risk perception and constantly modify its
intervention strategies.

25. Scaling up and possibilities?

Where do you think we go from here?

26. For more information on this project contact:

Mr R Ambalavanan, Executive Director, Tea Board and
National Project Director, Shelwood, Coonoor Club Road,
Coonoor 643101, Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu. Tel: 0423-2231638/
2230316; teaboardcoonoor@rediffmail.com;
ambal007@gmail.com

Ms Svati Bhogle, National Project Manager, TIDE. Tel
0802331556 svati.bhogle@tide-india.org,

Mr Srinivasan Iyer, Team Leader, Energy and Environment
Unit, UNDP, 55, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi. Tel: 01146532333; srinivasan.iyer@undp.org