The event focused on the second exchange program which took place in New Delhi during 11^th to 15^th June 2018 – its objectives, detailed discussions, outcomes and learnings from key EE practitioners from India, South Korea and World Bank as well as the SAR, MNA and Africa country participants. Forty energy efficiency practitioners came from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cote d’Ivoire, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Morocco, Kenya, Mauritius, Korea and India. The program was organized by the World Bank and EESL, India in collaboration with KEA and the BEE, India, and with support from the Korea-World Bank Partnership Facility (KWPF). The African Development Bank sponsored five participants. The International Institute for Energy Conservation (IIEC) implemented the 5-days program in India, as a technical consultant to the World Bank.  The exchange program consisted of three days of classroom training and two days of site visits.

Day 1 opened with thought leaders from India from both EESL and BEE who set the context for the week along with sharing an overview of the EE scenario in India. Mr. S.P. Garnaik, Chief General Manager, EESL, inaugurated the event by welcoming the participants. The participants were introduced to the EESL activities and the national level programs on energy efficiency. Highlighting the challenges, he emphasized on bringing transformation in the domains of technology, finance, regulatory and institutional. Mr. Arijit Sengupta, Director, BEE, addressed the role of BEE elaborating on the energy transition that is occurring globally. He referred to the Indian efforts and the establishment of BEE for the same purpose. He elaborated on the importance of EE over RE and its role in the GDP of the country.

This was followed by a session on overview of EE policies and experience shared by the SAR country representatives. The day ended with a session on energy conservation programs and incentive mechanisms in Korea’s industrial sector.

Day 2 focused on innovative EE financial models and ESCO market development as well as New Age Smart Grid Solutions and Utility Based DSM Programs presented by both Indian and Korean experts.

Day 3 opened with theme talks delivered by Dr. Ajay Mathur, Director General, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Mr. Saurabh Kumar, Managing Director, EESL and Dr. Ashok Sarkar, Senior Energy Specialist, World Bank. The theme talks were followed by focused sessions on national level energy efficiency programs in building, home appliances and industrial sectors. The BEE implemented National Program for Certification of EE Professionals and the support to State Designated Agencies (SDAs) were also presented to the participants.

Day 4 was dedicated to the valedictory session in the morning where participant feedback was shared along with the parting speeches from BEE, EESL, KEA, World Bank and IIEC and the distribution of program completion certificates. A field visit to EESL’s street lighting program site was organized in the afternoon.

Day 5 was dedicated to the visits to EESL’s building EE program implementation site at NITI Aayog, which is considered to be a successful Public Building EE project. An introductory presentation was made by NITI Aayog and the EESL team at the project site to explain the program to the participants. The day commenced with a visit to the Intertek Lab – an Energy Efficiency Standards and Labeling Testing facility in New Delhi. The Intertek team led the participants to observe the lighting intensity testing, thermal testing, air conditioner and other appliances testing at the lab.

The program not only provided the opportunity to the participants to learn from the information shared by the key speakers but also to network with each other, exchange knowledge, enable technology transfer and build partnerships for design and implementation of innovative EE programs in their respective countries. IIEC also undertook a short feedback survey from the participants at the end of the week-long program. The participants shared constructive feedback on the training and content of the sessions, in addition to suggestions on how to improve such knowledge exchange programs in the future. The recommendations also include some observations which can be used to develop partnerships and programs.