Accra, July 26, GNA–The Millennium Development Authority (MiDA), in collaboration with the Energy Commission, has inaugurated three Sustainable Energy Service Centres (SESCs) in three tertiary institutions to assist organisations to adopt and implement cost-effective energy-saving measures in their operations.
The Centres were funded by the United States Government through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) at the cost of US$284,928.
The SESCs have facilities such as energy audit instruments, office and information technology equipment and three vehicles for all three Centres.
Through the SESCs, the Energy Commission could build the capacity of persons in auditing, ensuring that there are core qualified and certified professionals to help undertake market assessments and to advise the government on appropriate policies to adopt in the sector.
The beneficiary institutions are the Accra Technical University, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and the University of Energy and Natural Resources.
The management of the three institutions received keys to the vehicles purchased to support the Centres’ activities.
At the handing-over ceremony at the Accra Technical University on Tuesday, Mr Martin Eson-Benjamin, the Chief Executive Officer of MiDA, said the establishment of the SESCs formed part of the Ghana Power Compact Program’s Energy Efficiency and Demand Side Management (EEDSM) Project.
The Centres, he said, were the first of the kind in the country and would train and certify professionals who would assist Organisations and homes to adopt and implement cost-effective energy-saving measures in their operations.
“We thank the Millennium Challenge Corporation for providing the funds to make this possible.
“I will also like to thank the Energy Commission for supporting MiDA to complete their pilot Centres.”
The Supervising Consultant for the Project, Development Environment Services Limited (DESL) and its Partners, worked with MiDA, the Energy Commission and the beneficiary Institutions to design, equip and operationalise those Centres.
The CEO of MiDA stated that the SESCs were part of the innovative approaches to ensure the efficient use and conservation of power, and have the potential to reach out and serve entities across the country and the West African Sub-region.
He said the EEDSM Project sought to plug any gaps in the efficient use of electrical power resources.
Therefore, MiDA felt it necessary to support the Energy Commission’s overtures to provide resources to some selected tertiary Institutions and equip them with the two key requirements for carrying out energy audits, he added.
In that regard, the beneficiary institutions trained staff with relevant knowledge/skills; and access to equipment to undertake measurements of power utilisation in businesses and homes, he explained.
Mr Eson-Benjamin noted that the Staff in each Centre had been given the requisite technical training on various aspects of energy management and audit through three Certification Programmes, namely, the Sustainable Energy Management Professional (SEMP), the Sustainable Energy Audit Professional (SEAP) and the Energy Audit Practicals (EAP).
He observed that energy was critical for poverty reduction and sustainable development as well as for economic growth and combating climate change.
“Adopting best practices in energy efficiency will create energy savings at the consumer and national level, and deliver these climate change benefits through avoided Climate Hazard Group (CHG) emissions in avoided electricity consumption,” Mr Eson-Benjamin emphasised.
“We have put on the energy market, three willing Institutions who will collaborate with the Energy Commission to put Ghana on the pedestal; as far as ensuring the efficient use of power is concerned.
“It is MiDA’s prayer that these Centres will be well-patronised by all and that the Institutions will soon become household names among our small, medium and large industries in Ghana. A successful collaboration with the Association of Ghana Industries will ensure the realisation of this goal,” he stated.
Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the Minister of Energy, in an address read on his behalf, said the US Government had been a strategic partner to Ghana in promoting efficient energy utilisation.
He stated that cost-efficient use of energy would be a catalyst for industrial development and save up to 4,000 gigawatts of power annually.
The Minister believed that the three centres would soon become centres of excellence for energy efficiency and pledged the government’s commitment to roll out policy frameworks to enhance energy efficiency nationwide.
The beneficiary institutions, which were represented by Professor Elvis Asare-Bediako, Vice Chancellor of the University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani, Prof. Samuel Nii Odai, Vice Chancellor of the Accra Technical University and Prof. George Yaw Obeng, Head, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), took turns to thank MiDA, MCC and Energy Commission for supporting them with the Centres and pledged to take good care of the equipment.
GNA