Foundries warm up to energy-saving technologies

Coimbatore: Foundries in the region are likely to approach the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), seeking technological upgradation fund to implement energy efficiency technologies. Already, around 20 foundries in the district have adopted energy saving methodologies devised by the Coimbatore Industrial Infrastructure Association (Coindia) and supported by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE).
On Saturday, representatives of BEE, ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) visited the energy management cell at Coindia at Avarampalayam.

S Kuppusamy, president, Coindia, which had been implementing energy saving programme for foundries since 2014, sought the representatives to extend the duration of the energy saving project by two more years and also grant financial assistance to upgrade existing energy saving technologies.

To this, Sudhir Garg, joint secretary of MSME, said around 20 foundries could form a group and seek financial aid from NSIC to implement proven energy saving technologies.

Kuppusamy said they had already implemented four energy saving techniques – energy efficient compressor systems, efficient core making, harmonics mitigation system and efficient cooling system for furnaces – in the foundries in the district.

Coindia representatives said they would implement these technologies in other units and based on the success, would form groups to seek financial aid from NSIE. They said more foundry units were set to implement the best energy saving practices devised by Coindia and they were planning to extend the programme to other sectors too.