15 May 2014: The World Bank Group, the Indian Ministry of Power and Energy Efficiency Services Limited held a conference to explore barriers and opportunities to the development of energy efficient street lighting in India and other developing countries. The conference brought together over 150 participants from 20 countries to partake in a South-South-North knowledge exchange, with a focus on institutional and regulatory lessons from developed markets, the role of energy services companies (ESCOs) and policy incentives for energy efficient projects.

Ajay Mathur, Director General of India’s Bureau of Energy Efficiency, outlined a vision for replacing India’s 33 million street lights with energy-efficient light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and presented performance contracting and other policy options for making the switch. Many participants agreed that a switch to LED street lighting in India could deliver net benefits and reduce municipal maintenance costs by 20 to 25% because of their longer utility life.

Participants also agreed on the need for increased subnational capacity development to overcome hurdles for designing, planning, financing and executing energy efficient street lighting programs, particularly when municipalities must deal with limited resources and competing priorities. Participants also identified challenges related to coordination, limited awareness, inadequate data, technical issues and a lack of successful precedents. Participants discussed the need for governments to support energy efficiency programs by creating appropriate policies and markets.

The Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) of the World Bank, Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF), and European Commission (EC) sponsored the workshop, which took place in New Delhi, India, from 19-20 March 2014. Participants included representatives from Brazil, India, Germany, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mexico, Thailand and the US. [ESMAP Press Release] [IFC Press Release]