Federal Govt Inaugurates Technical C’tee On Sustainable Cooling In Nigeria

The federal government has set up a National Technical Committee (NTC) to enhance sustainable cooling in Nigeria, stressing that the project was necessary to stop substandard air conditioners, refrigerators and other cooling devices from flooding the Nigerian market.

Minister of Science Technology and Innovation, Adeleke Mamora inaugurated the committee in Abuja on Thursday, while declaring open a one-day National Stakeholders Consultative Workshop on “Scaling Up Energy Efficient and Climate-Friendly Cooling in Nigeria,” organised by the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and other stakeholders.

Adeleke in his remarks said “it is a fact that Nigeria is the largest market in Africa and this applies to the cooling sector also. With the current growing population, combined with improving lifestyle,  urbanisation  and rising global warming, Nigeria will continue to experience growing demand for air conditioners (ACs), regenerators and other cooling devices, thus, becoming one of the fastest growing ACs and refrigerators markets in the world.

“Unfortunately, most of the   ACs utilised in the country have an energy efficiency ratio (EER) below internationally acceptable minimum energy performance standard (MEPS). Consequently, the importance of this workshop on scaling up energy efficient and climate-friendly cooling in Nigeria cannot be overemphasized,” he said.

He added that Nigeria through the National Energy Policy and Climate Protocols has joined the rest of the world to recognise energy efficiency as one of the most cost-effective means of providing energy security, increase economic productivity, reduce local air pollution, and help mitigate Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.

Also speaking during the workshop, the Director General of the ECN, Prof. Eli Jidere Bala said the project being hosted by the commission, was launched on February 3rd 2022 to accelerate the transition to climate-friendly low-Global Warming Potential (low-GWP) refrigerants and energy- efficient ACs in Nigeria, thereby contributing to meeting Nigeria’s climate targets as clearly stated in Nigeria’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) in a cost effective and sustainable manner.

“The importance of this project cannot be overemphasized as it contributes to meeting one of the NDC’s targets of 2.5% per year reduction in energy intensity through energy efficiency best practices across all sectors of the nation’s economy. As you are aware, space cooling by air-conditioning, and cooling of products by refrigeration, is one of the most energy intensive services.

“The more energy cooling consumes, the more emission from the conventional fossil energy sources is emitted. It is therefore important that efficient cooling in Nigeria should be given top priority in the development of the NDC implementation plan,” Prof Bala said.

Brian Hojul of the UNEP in his remarks said the UN has come to assist Nigeria address peak energy demands of Nigerians.

Members of the committee include Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) which is the NTC chair and Project Manager; Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON); Federal Ministry of Environment (Dept. of Climate Change); Federal Ministry of Environment (National Ozone Office); Nigerian Customs Service; National Association of Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Practitioners (NARAP) and the United Nations Environment Programme-Project Technical Team.