The European Union (EU) and its German partners in the Nigerian Energy Support Programme (NESP) have started fresh moves to partner with relevant government agencies to implement energy efficiency policy in Nigeria.
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.
According to Head of Energy Efficiency Unit, Charles Diarra 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.
He noted that the standards are at the approval stage, and assured that implementation would commence hopefully by the year end.
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.”
Diarra also 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.
In his remarks, Deputy Head of Programme, NESP, Tim Heine, said though the energy efficiency rate in Nigeria is at a dormant and infant stage, it has enormous potential, especially with the industrial sector.
