Chandigarh: To improve energy efficiency and reduce the operating costs of the industry, Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) will conduct a comprehensive energy audit of 1,875 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across the state.The initiative aims to help MSMEs understand their energy consumption patterns and identify areas of savings. For enterprises operating on thin margins, even small reductions in energy use can reduce costs, improve competitiveness and support decarbonization efforts.Under the project, the audit will assess energy consumption patterns, identify energy conservation and process improvement measures, and estimate potential savings in energy, costs and carbon dioxide emissions. This exercise will also help in generating bankable and implementable audit reports, besides setting state-level energy efficiency baseline for MSMEs.The audit will include investment-grade energy audits (IGEA) to determine the current energy performance of each facility. Major energy-consuming systems such as motors, boilers, furnaces, furnaces, cooling towers and compressors will be examined, and unit-specific energy-saving interventions will be recommended.A techno-economic assessment will also be conducted to assess the feasibility of the proposed measures, including payback analysis and internal rate of return (IRR) based financial assessment.Officials said the audit will analyze at least 12 months of historical utility data, including power and fuel consumption as well as production profiles and operational parameters such as working hours and equipment schedules. A detailed implementation roadmap will also be prepared.The exercise will cover electrical, thermal, utility and process systems, while also exploring rooftop solar, solar thermal applications and waste heat recovery.This initiative is being taken in consultation with the Department of Industry and Commerce under the Rampage and Enhancement of MSME Performance (RAMP) scheme. PEDA has started the process of appointing consultants for the project, which is to be completed within nine months.Officials said the initiative is expected to provide actionable insights to MSMEs to reduce energy usage, cut costs and move towards more sustainable operations.