The Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) in collaboration with the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) has indicated interest in partnering with the LEADERSHIP Media Group to promote the “Nigeria Sustainable Cooling Project” towards maximising energy efficiency.
Acting Director, Linkages and Consultancy Department of the ECN, Samaila Zaku, stated this when he led a delegation of the agency to the LEADERSHIP corporate headquarters in Abuja to sensitize Nigerians on the importance of energy efficiency on Thursday.
Mr Zaku said the ECN undertakes strategic planning and coordination of policy on energy, and it also explores other means of energy resources that can contribute to national development.
He said, “We collaborate with foreign partners to execute projects that relate to energy. We collaborate with the United Nations Environmental Project and this project is targeted at climate mitigation because the world is talking about climate change through stable cooling, and in this cooling system we look at the technology we use to streamline the Air Conditioners (AC) in residential, commercial areas.”
National Coordinator of the projects, Etiosa Uyigue said the project focuses more on Air Conditioners, stressing that the key objective of the project is to accelerate the use of energy efficiency to save much power.
Uyigue also noted that the ECN published a report in 2014 across the six geopolitical zones where it was indicated that 40% of the energy consumed in urban areas is consumed by refrigeration and Air Conditioners.
“When we talk about energy efficiency, we are talking about trying to use less power to provide certain services. It could be lighting, it could be cooling. We have benefits that accrue from the culture of energy efficiency.
“ECN and UNEP are saying that the little we are generating should be used efficiently so that more people can have access to energy and we can also optimize the system.
“So, in this project, we targeted three sets of appliances- lighting, refrigeration and AC. These are the basic appliances you find in many houses,” Uyigue said.
He added that that target is not just a Nigerian campaign but a global campaign, as such saying that the ECN has set a minimum level of energy efficiency ratio of 2.8 to measure the efficiency of ACs.
“The energy efficiency ratio is the cooling capacity of AC power. We have done a study and we found out that about 30% of the ACs in the market in Nigeria do not meet the standard minimum of 2.8 ratio. In other words, if the standard were to be implemented, those ACs would not find their way into the country,” Uyigue added.
Communications Officer of the project, Nkechi Isaac, stressed that the media is a strategic ally in sensitising Nigerians on the benefits of efficient energy, even as she admonished LEADERSHIP to be at the forefront of the campaign.
She disclosed that the Commission has a robust collaboration with Customs, NOA, SON NESRA, ECN, Ministry of Industry Trade And Investment, and Department of Climate Change in the Ministry of Environment, National Council on Climate Change on the strategies on enforcement, which she noted will also benefit the environment.
Welcoming the delegation, the Head of Stories of the LEADERSHIP Group, Mr. Bayo Amodu assured the delegation of the organisation’s readiness to collaborate with it, even as he pledged to give the needed support to make the project succeed.
