Government to implement energy efficiency standards

The Federal Government in collaboration with the European Union (EU) and its German partners in the Nigerian Energy Support Programme (NESP) is set to implement energy efficiency policy before year end.

NESP is a technical assistance programme launched and funded by the European Union and the German government in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Power Works and Housing, to promote investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency and rural electrification.

The Head of Unit, Energy Efficiency, Charles Diarra who disclosed this in Lagos during an energy efficiency network workshop said 19 standards have already been developed and adopted by the technical team at the Ministry of Power Works and Housing towards the implementation.

Diarra, who revealed that the standards are at the approval stage, noted that implementation would commence hopefully by the year end. According to him, the standards, which cover household appliances like air conditioners and fridges as well as lightening and a host of others, are veered towards proffering solutions to the country’s energy challenge through power conservation.

The Nigerian market, he said does not have any required energy label as compared to developed countries, “so we are trying to support the government, especially the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) on how those standards would be implemented.”

He said the standards would conform to the ISO 50001, which is an international standard for energy management, and implies that appliance and others coming into Nigeria would have to meet a certain standard of energy efficiency, and with labels to indicate.

However, the Deputy Head of Programme, NESP, Tim Heine, remarked that though the energy efficiency rate in Nigeria is at a dormant and infant stage, it has enormous potential, especially with the industrial sector.

Heine cited cases of international experience where companies have saved up to 40 per cent of energy in their production owing to the adoption of energy efficiency measures.

He explained that what Nigeria needs to make manufacturing more competitive again energy efficiency measures which start with energy audit by various companies and industries who would key into it.

Diarra added: to support the development of an energy management system after the audit, a mechanism needs to be in place to sustain the system.

Hence the initiation of the Energy Efficiency Network (EEN), a group of six companies which, are being used as pilot study to be a mechanism to sustain the energy system.

The Deputy Director, Renewable and Rural Power Access department of the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, Faruk Yabo lauded the importance of energy efficiency practices and initiatives such as the EEN pilot project.

“The Nigerian industrial sector can potentially save between 30 and 50 per cent of energy via the implementation of energy efficiency measures, but we need to do a qualified energy audit for the different areas involved,” Diarre noted.