Energy experts have called for the adoption of energy efficiency practices nationwide to curb wastage, cut costs and increase access, especially in rural areas.
This was disclosed at the just concluded West African clean energy & environment trade fair & conference (WACEE) 2022, themed “Catalysing Sustainable Investments” in Lagos.
“Some of these appliances are your light bulbs, energy-efficient solar Powered fridges, wheels, solar mills, grinders, and even electric sewing machines,” Temitope George, Component Lead on the Nigeria Rural Electrification Project funded by World Bank and AfDB said.
“In order to get the most of the power consumed, it is important that customers understand energy efficiency and use energy-efficient appliances so that they’re not consuming a lot of power and when they do consume power, they don’t have to pay a lot of money for the power consumed,” George added.
She said the cost of power is expensive, and developers are going to charge a particular amount that can be higher than the power that’s consumed because they used a combination of debts, equity, and grants to install these mini-grids.
According to International Energy Agency (IEA), energy efficiency delivers a number of environmental benefits. “It notably reduces greenhouse gas emissions, both direct emissions from fossil fuel combustion or consumption, and indirect emissions reductions from electricity generation.”
Despite these advantages, George said the use of energy-efficient appliances is still at its minimum as a result of the high cost of the appliances and scarcity of foreign exchange to import raw materials for local production.
Read also: Public-private partnerships will spur sustainable financing in Nigeria – Experts
To cushion this affordability challenge, George said the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) will continue to improve energy efficiency in rural communities with the support of financing from the World Bank and AFDB.
“Under the Rural Electrification Agency, what we are doing with our intervention is to provide grants to these developers; it will result in a reduction in the cost price of efficient energy equipment.
“But over time, there have to be sustainable ways of ensuring a reduction in cost and making these energy-saving products competitive with their counterpart,” she said.
Also at the event, Onyinye Anene-Nzelu, Head, Mini-Grids, ENGIE Energy Access, Nigeria said that you reduce energy costs by eliminating waste.
“We are working with partners across the industry to make sure that we supply efficient energy equipment,” she said. “It reduces our investment costs from day one and makes the project financially viable.”
Meanwhile, Katharina Felgenhauer, Delegate of German Industry and Commerce in Nigeria, said bringing the right stakeholders and partners together as WACEE 2022 has done will lead the way and make sure that technology and Innovation that are suitable and practical for the Nigerian context can become reality.
“Bringing together business partners from Nigeria, Germany, and Europe means that we’re building lasting partnerships,” she said.
“But this can only work if we focus on what is practical and solution-oriented in the Nigerian context meaning that implementing innovation in clean energy, water, and circular economy needs local expertise, local capacity, and local production of sustainable solutions in all these areas of development.”
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