Which Bureau of Energy Efficiency Jorhat efficient motor report fits my tea dryer blower: 15, 18.5 or 22 kilowatts?

Three Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) Jorhat reports replace a tea dryer blower motor of 15, 18.5 or 22 kilowatts (kW) for rupees (Rs) 0.79, 1.01 and 1.13 lakh. They save 3,672, 4,110 and 5,400 kilowatt hours (kWh) a year and print paybacks of 2.93, 3.26 and 2.83 years.

The three reports side by side

• 15 kW: old motor 83.5% efficient, new one 93%. Blower draw 9.94 kW, saving 1.02 kW. Over 3,600 hours that is 3,672 kWh, Rs 27,356 at Rs 7.45 a kWh, a blend of 70% grid power at Rs 5.5 and 30% diesel generator power at Rs 12 (Table 4 of each report). Project cost Rs 0.79 lakh.
• 18.5 kW: old 86.5%, new 94%. Draw 14.31 kW in Table 8, saving 1.142 kW, 4,110 kWh, Rs 30,622. Project cost Rs 1.01 lakh.
• 22 kW: old 86.5%, new 94%. Draw 18.70 kW, saving 1.50 kW, 5,400 kWh, Rs 40,230. Project cost Rs 1.13 lakh.
• All three run the blower 12 hours a day for 300 days, which is 3,600 hours, and price power at that Rs 7.45 blended cost. Each says the formula is kW saved = kW output x (1 / old efficiency minus 1 / new efficiency).

Why the 15 kW report looks so good for its size

The saving is a share of what the blower draws. At 15 kW it is 1.02 of 9.94 kW, about 10.3%. At 18.5 and 22 kW it is 1.142 of 14.31 and 1.50 of 18.70, about 8.0% each. The 15 kW report assumes a worse old motor, 83.5% against 86.5%, so it books a bigger efficiency gain of 9.5 points against 7.5.

Check which efficiency your old motor really has before you pick a report. The reports say most of these motors have been rewound more than two or three times, which does not tell you your own motor's efficiency.

Printed figures that do not tie

• Paybacks: the summary tables divide the project cost by the saving rounded to 0.27, 0.31 and 0.40 lakh, giving 2.93, 3.26 and 2.83 years. Table 9 divides the full figures for 15 and 18.5 kW: for 15 kW it prints 2.89 years (34.65 months) and for 18.5 kW 3.30 years (40 months), while the report's own annexure prints 3.26 years (39 months). The 22 kW Table 9 prints 2.83 years (34 months), which is 1.13 / 0.40 with the rounded saving; with Rs 40,230 it would be 2.81.
• The 18.5 kW report lists a measured blower draw of 12.69 kW in Table 6 and 14.31 kW as the on-load figure. Table 8 uses 14.31. The annexure text says the existing consumption is 12.69 kW, or 45,684 kWh a year. Section 3.2 of that report also states 5,400 kWh and Rs 25,479 a year, which match neither its own 4,110 kWh nor Rs 30,622.
• Cost: the 18.5 and 22 kW texts quote the motor at Rs 0.97 and Rs 1.08 lakh, and the project cost tables add the other costs to reach Rs 1.01 and Rs 1.13 lakh (for 18.5 kW, 0.97 plus erection, civil work and contingency of 0.04 in all). That is not a conflict.
• Carbon dioxide (CO2): the summaries print 3.78, 4.23 and 5.56 tonnes a year, which is about 1.03 kilograms (kg) a kWh (my own division; the reports print no factor). That figure reflects the 30% diesel generator share in the Rs 7.45 blend, so it is not comparable with the grid factor. The body of the 18.5 kW report prints 3.93 tonnes and the 22 kW body 5.62. For comparison only, at the grid factor of 0.675 kg CO2 a kWh for financial year (FY) 2025-26, the same savings would be about 2.48, 2.77 and 3.65 tonnes.
• Downtime: each summary lists 2 days of process downtime. The 15 kW body says 4 to 5 hours to change the motor.

Before you order

• Put a meter on the blower for a day. The saving scales with what it draws now, not with its nameplate.
• Count your own drying hours. The 3,600 is 12 hours x 300 days; a factory running fewer hours saves proportionally less.
• Ask the maker for the guaranteed efficiency at your load, which for a part-loaded blower is lower than the nameplate figure.
• Re-run the saving at your current power cost, not the Rs 7.45 blend of the 2010 reports.

The 18.5 kW report as printed, then at its own measured draw

• As printed: 14.31 kW x 86.5% = 12.38 kW of shaft output; 12.38 / 0.94 = 13.17 kW; saving 1.14 kW
• 1.142 kW x 3,600 hours = 4,110 kWh x Rs 7.45 = Rs 30,622 (printed). Rs 1.01 lakh / Rs 30,622 = 3.30 years
• My reading, at the 12.69 kW the same report measured: 12.69 x 0.865 = 10.98 kW; 10.98 / 0.94 = 11.68 kW; saving about 1.01 kW
• About 3,650 kWh x Rs 7.45 = about Rs 27,200. Rs 1.01 lakh / Rs 27,200 = about 3.7 years

Printed lines are the report's own. The last two lines are an example of my own reading, using the report's inputs.

What Senseible does here

Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into monthly records, so your monthly units are on file next to a report's yearly kWh. A bill covers the whole factory, so the blower's own draw still needs a meter. The green loan check shows what a lender asks for.

• Green loan readiness check
• VFD on a tea dryer hot air blower
• Automatic airflow in tea withering
• Jorhat tea factories coal and gas drying carbon

Sources: BEE, Detailed project report: energy efficient motor 15 kW in dryer hot air blower, Jorhat tea cluster (SAMEEEKSHA), BEE, Detailed project report: energy efficient motor 18.5 kW in dryer hot air blower, Jorhat tea cluster (SAMEEEKSHA), BEE, Detailed project report: energy efficient motor 22 kW in dryer hot air blower, Jorhat tea cluster (SAMEEEKSHA), Central Electricity Authority (CEA), CO2 Baseline Database for the Indian Power Sector

Last reviewed 2026-11-05. Report figures are from BEE's Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) programme project reports, at 2010 prices and a Rs 7.45 a kWh blended power cost (70% grid, 30% diesel generator). Check today's power cost and a current quote before you rely on the payback.