MiDA rolls out US$25.4m energy efficiency project

The Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) has rolled out a comprehensive ‘Energy Efficiency and Demand Side Management’ (EEDSM) project, aimed at ensuring energy efficiency and sustainable power consumption in the country.

Key deliverables under the project will include replacing an estimated 18,000 streetlights within Accra West and Accra East areas with LED ones, and an energy efficiency survey targetting 1,000 households across the country.

The project will also train energy auditors of public institutions to help their various institutions conserve energy with retrofit work on six public institutions: namely Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Adabraka Polyclinic, University of Ghana, Dept. of Urban Roads, and the Ministries of Education and Health to convert their energy supply to solar.

MiDA’s EEDSM Project Manager, Sylvester Ashong Ayayee, told journalists that the exercise – which is a component under the Ghana Power Compact – has been designed to directly support the country’s sector-strategic objectives to achieve power supply efficiency.

The broader objective, he said, is to help reduce wastage in power consumption, as it is estimated to save up to 70 percent of energy consumption within the project period.

“This project will significantly improve savings of government expenditure on electricity consumption for monies to be channeled into other economic areas for development.

“It will help to retain more power in the system for industrial use and other purposes; ultimately, it will drive down tariffs and save cost for both government and public consumers of electricity,” he noted.

He added: “We also expect that the success of retrofit work on the six public institutions will serve as prototype for government to extend the exercise and cover other institutions beyond the project period”.

The EEDSM project comprises four themed activities: comprising development and enforcement of standards and labels; energy auditing; demand side management infrastructure; and education and public information.

Under the Standards Enforcement phase, MiDA is collaborating with the Ghana Standards Authority and the Energy Commission to revise and develop new standards for about 20 energy consuming products and appliances, including solar products.

Also, an AC-testing facility is being built at the GSA premises to test listed appliances when they are imported into the country.

Relatedly, there is also a component of this phase for field metering and monitoring studies to collect baseline data on energy appliances from 1,000 households across the country, to inform government policies and programmes.

Three energy auditing centres will be established on the campuses of three tertiary institutions under the Energy Auditing phase of the project, where the capacity of energy managers at public institutions will be upgraded to enable them properly monitor and manage energy levels to save wastage.

The replacement of streetlights with long-lasting LED lighting systems is captured under the Demand Side Management Infrastructure phase of the project, while the education and public information phase will intensify awareness on new regulations and standards governing the use of electrical appliances and gadgets, and also prepare and persuade the public to conserve energy.