Reducing electricity use in agriculture: US-sponsored demonstration organised

More than 150 farmers, government officials, and producers of water pumps gathered on June 29 in Nanakana, northern Punjab, to a US sponsored demonstration on ways to reduce electricity use in agriculture. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has already helped more than 600 farmers to cut down their electricity use up to 40% by replacing their water pumps with more efficient models.
This initiative is part of the US commitment to help Pakistan reduce its power deficit. USAID, through its Tube-well Efficiency Improvement Programme, is planning to co-fund the replacement of 11,000 water pumps by 2013, saving an estimated 45 megawatts of electricity and reducing farmers' electricity bills by 650 million Rupees annually. This initiative will also result in increased revenues for the power distribution companies, which will be able to sell the saved electricity to commercial entities at fun price, instead of at subsidised rates to farmers.
The agriculture sector is a major consumer of energy in Pakistan, and the pumps that farmers use for irrigation are responsible for a large share of peak electrical demand. Many of the current pumps operate at only 30% efficiency. "After installing a new pump six months ago, I have cut down my electricity use by two-third," says farmer Umer Hayyat from southern Punjab. "I have already recovered all the money I had invested in my tube well and now I am saving 12,000 Rupees on my electricity bill each month."
In co-operation with the Ministry of Water and Power, USAID has certified six Pakistani pump suppliers, FlOWPAK, HMA, KSB, MAK, PECO and Victoria, to be compliant with ISO 9906, an international standard for energy efficiency. These companies can provide farmers with certified energy efficient motor-pumps that are eligible for a 50% subsidy from USAID. By installing these motor-pumps, farmers will be able to extract the same amount of water for irrigation more efficiently, thus reducing the use of electricity and costs.
"It is to show the farmers that a small change in their irrigation practices can make a huge impact in their business," said a USAID representative at the meeting with the farmers. "You can enroll in the program over the phone - just call our service center at 042-111-748-260. It's as simple as that," the representative said further USAID's Tube-well Efficiency Improvement Programme is one of the six US Government projects focused on reduction of Pakistan's power shortage. Other programmes help complete dams and renovate power plants that are priority to the Government of Pakistan.-PR