Nigerians urge to use energy efficient appliances

Fri, Sep 7, 2018 | By publisher


Power

By Anayo Ezugwu

Nigerians have been advised to use energy efficient appliances in their homes. Experts, who gave the advice, said energy efficiency is key to ensuring a safe, reliable, affordable and sustainable energy system for the future. They said it is the quickest and least costly way of addressing energy scarcity environmental and economic challenges.

Speaking at a seminar organised by the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany Lagos and the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Nigeria, Richard Adewumi, group head, Department of Electrical Engineering, Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON, said more than 50 percent of electrical appliances used in Nigeria are not energy efficient. This, he said constitutes a serious drain of energy capacity in the country.

“Nigeria presently generates less than 5000 megawatts therefore Nigerians need to learn how to use their energy efficiently. At SON we are working with different stakeholders in the energy industry to ensure that domestic appliances imported into the country and those manufactured locally are energy efficient,” he said.

Adewumi said some of the lamps, air conditioners and refrigerators in Nigerian markets are not up to the standard set by the SON. He regretted that Nigerian importers are abusing the standards by smuggling sub-standard products. According to him, Nigeria has many unmanned borders through which the electrical products are smuggled into the country.

Consequently, he said the SON is working on strengthening warrantee of products both imported and locally manufactured in Nigeria. He said this would empower consumers to return products that fail to live beyond the stipulated warrantee. He said that the process if implemented would reduce the amount of sub-standard products in the market.

“We are getting to a point where Nigerians would begin to reject sub-standard products. And I believe that with the latest metering process going on in the country, Nigerians would begin to utilise and buy energy efficient products. It is easier to conserve energy than to build it,” Adewumi said.

On her part, Ina Hommers, head of programme, Nigerian Energy Support Programme, Deutsche gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit, GIZ, said energy efficiency is not just about utilising energy but also using the available energy to increase production and capacity in Nigeria. she said energy efficiency is key to ensuring a safe, reliable, affordable and sustainable energy system in the country.

According to her, the Regulatory Indicators for Sustainable Energy, RISE, World Bank Group report of 2017 stated that Nigeria’s energy efficiency level is still very low. She said Nigeria’s population is growing but the energy capacity is dropping. “Regrettably, there is no data on the amount of energy consumed in Nigeria. Investors are interested in knowing the amount of energy consume daily to enable them plan before investing in the sector,” she said.

Hommers acknowledged that since 2015 Nigeria has a clear policy regarding renewable energy and energy mix in the country. According to her, the country is targeting 30,000 gigawatts by 2030 in energy mix and noted that if Nigeria follows through the policy, it will have sustainable energy by 2030.

– Sept. 7, 2018 @ 14:37 GMT

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