TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE COMPLETION REPORT

Division: EAEN

TA No., Country and Name Amount Approved: US$400,000

TA 4948-PRC : Promoting Resource Conservation and Energy Revised Amount:
Efficiency
Executing Agency: National Source of Funding Amount Undisbursed: Amount Utilized:
Development and Reform TASF US$49,745.99 US$350,254.01
Commission (NDRC)
TA Approval TA Signing Fielding of First Consultant: TA Completion Date
Date: Date: 15 Feb 2008 Original: 31 May 2008 Actual: 30 Sep 2010
02 July 2007 15 Aug 2007
Account Closing Date
Original: 31 May 2008 Actual: 24 Nov 2010
Description:
The sustained high economic growth rate over the past 30 years in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has lifted
millions of people out of absolute poverty, and its economy now ranks second in the world. With further economic
development and rapid urbanization, it was expected that the PRC would face rising pressure on energy supply and
environmental protection. The PRC government identified this as an emerging binding constraint and emphasized
the importance of optimal use of its limited resources. It issued many decrees and plans to promote resource
conservation and energy efficiency. For example, one of the key priorities of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan was to
improve energy efficiency by 20%, which was a flagship program of the PRC to address climate change and
environmental challenges arising from rapid economic growth. Also, the State Council issued in 2007 a decree to
enhance energy conservation. The National Development and Reform Commission identified 10 key areas to reduce
energy consumption, and launched the top-1000 Program in mid-2006, which required the 1000 big industrial
enterprises accounting for about 33% of total energy consumption to implement energy conservation measures.
Being a high-priority area for rapid economic growth, energy conservation has been, and will be at the core of the
PRC’s strategies for energy sector development and climate change mitigation. There was an urgent need to
develop a suitable energy conservation evaluation system (ECES) to support the PRC government’s energy
conservation programs and hold enterprises accountable. Importantly, the ECES would help industrial enterprises
plan their energy conservation programs and monitor related implementation progress. ADB has identified energy as
a core operational sector and achieving environmental sustainability as a priority. Support to the PRC for developing
the ECES and related capacity building was a close fit with ADB’s and PRC’s priorities.

Expected Impact, Outcome and Outputs:

The impact of the TA was more efficient use of resources – raw materials, water, and energy. Its outcome was
enhanced capacity in measuring and evaluating energy conservation system. The TA consisted of the following
outputs: (i) an ECES and benchmark standards recommended for office buildings and energy-intensive enterprises;
(ii) pilot testing ECES for one governmental building and one energy-intensive industrial enterprise; and (iii) a
capacity-building package, including training modules, information brochures, and training and communication
programs.

Delivery of Inputs and Conduct of Activities:

An international consulting firm (the consultant) from India, in association with national experts, was engaged in
accordance with ADB Guidelines on the Use of Consultants (2007, as amended from time to time). The consultant
was mobilized in March 2008 and submitted a draft inception report in April 2008 identifying some issues about the
refinement in the terms of reference (TOR), TA focus, and associated realignment in resource allocation. On the
basis of the inputs received from various stakeholders and the Inception Report submitted by the consultant, ADB
Mission refined the TOR and made associated changes in resource allocation. The consultant’s total input was 37.58
person months, which was slightly higher than the original estimate of 35 person months in the TA design. This was
due to the difficulty and delay in getting data verified and corrected in developing benchmarking standards and
criteria for selecting pilot projects. The draft final report was prepared and submitted in May 2009 and explained the
proposed ECES model in detail. Taking into account ADB’s and EA’s comments, the draft final report was revised
and the final report was submitted. There was delay in organizing the final workshop due to conflict in schedules
among the key stakeholders. The consultant completed all consulting activities under the TA by 31 October 2009
and its performance was satisfactory. The TA closing date was extended to 30 September 2010 on the request of
the EA to allow for conversion of the TA report into a knowledge product (KP) for wider dissemination of the TA
findings in the PRC. The KP was also included in EARD’s KPS program for 2010. The EA’s performance was
satisfactory. ADB's overall performance was satisfactory as it responded timely to the EA and consultant’s requests
and regularly reviewed the TA implementation. The EA was satisfied with inputs provided by ADB. All TA activities
were completed efficiently utilizing only 87.6% of the TA amount.
Evaluation of Outputs and Achievement of Outcome:
The TA achieved its designed outcome. As ADB has been actively engaged in the PRC to develop innovative energy
efficiency lending projects, the TA complemented the ongoing ADB interventions. By nature, an ECES includes a set
of detailed procedures that an enterprise can use to evaluate its energy efficiency performance, set specific
improvement targets, and make detailed operational and investment plans for future improvement. Therefore, a
proper application of ECES can help energy consumers achieve steady energy savings in the long term. Different
from traditional energy audit, which typically includes survey and analysis of energy flows for energy conservation,
an ECES also includes additional analyses on energy consumption baseline, adequacy of metering and monitoring
system for performance evaluation, management of energy information system, and capacity development for
sustainable energy performance. The draft final report discussed the proposed ECES model, including energy audit
and monitoring, performance analysis, EC management plan, and functions of different stakeholders, etc. As the
PRC government had launched many energy conservation programs, the proposed ECES model was therefore
designed to be compatible with existing key programs. During the TA implementation, one governmental building
and one energy-intensive industrial enterprise were identified to pilot-test the proposed ECES. By implementing the
ECES, both the governmental building and the industrial enterprise achieved higher energy efficiency standards and
were able to better plan their long term energy conservation targets. The KP requested by the EA was formally
published in late 2010 and received favorable remarks from various stakeholders who found it as a very good tool for
extensive public dissemination of energy conservation. The EA appreciated the additional value of the TA through
this KP. Workshops and training activities were organized to share experiences on energy conservation and to learn
from the international best practices on frameworks, methodologies, and tools in monitoring and evaluating energy
conservation activities. In general, the TA successfully delivered its outputs. The EA was satisfied by the TA outputs
and believed that the TA had played an important role in bringing experts and policy advisors together to enhance
knowledge sharing and long-term cooperation.

Overall Assessment and Rating

th
The TA is rated successful as its outcome was achieved. The TA was highly relevant as it was in line with PRC’s 11
Five-Year Plan to promote energy conservation and its findings were quite useful in promoting energy conservation
in the PRC. The TA implementation took longer mainly because of the delay in selection of consultants and in
organizing the final workshop to accommodate EA’s request of converting the TA report into a formal publication.

Major Lessons
Useful lessons were derived from the TA implementation. In general, when designing a TA in a new area, more
consultation is needed upfront to better understand the EA’s real need. In this case, it required more discussion for
the TA to focus only on energy aspects of the resource conservation. Also, longer and adequate time should be
considered for information dissemination and training activities, particularly if a knowledge product is planned for
public dissemination of the TA findings. In specific, the TA findings showed that in both pilot cases management
practices had more influence in reducing energy consumption than technologies. This indicates the importance of
managerial capacity development for sustainable energy performance in the future energy conservation projects.

Recommendations and Follow-Up Actions

Energy and resource conservation will continue to be high priority in the PRC. ADB and the government may
consider how the energy related output of the TA can be expanded to include water and raw materials as well. The
ECES developed under the TA can be further field tested under ongoing and planned energy efficiency lending
operations in the PRC.

Prepared by: Hongliang Yang Designation: Energy Specialist

In preparing any country program or strategy, financing any project, or by making any designation of or
reference to a particular territory or geographic area in this document, the Asian Development Bank does
not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area.