PRESS RELEASE

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June 6, 2011 - Nigeria, with a population of over 140 million people in, only about 40% of these people have access to electricity, and a very large majority of these people leave in the urban areas. The power currently generated in Nigeria is inadequate and unstable, forcing a large portion of the industry, businesses and households to rely on diesel and petrol generators as a primary or back-up source of electricity which can be source air pollutions.

The Nigerian government has set a target to increase electricity generation and subsequently, many gas-powered stations have been commissioned to increase generation and many more are expected to be commission to meet up with demand; gas powered stations are non-renewable source and will result in the emission of GHGs.

It is against this background that the Global Environment Facility (GEF), approved a grant for Nigeria to implement the project “Promoting Energy Efficiency in Residential and Public Sector in Nigeria” The project is being implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Nigeria Country Office in collaboration with relevant agencies of the Federal Government of Nigeria. The inception workshop for the project held on the 12th of May, 2011 at the UN House in Abuja. The workshop attracted over 90 participants from government, NGOs, private sector, professional bodies, development partners, academic and the media.

The overall objective of the GEF EE Project is to improve the energy efficiency of a series of end-use equipment (refrigeration appliances, air conditioners, lighting, electric motors and fans, heating appliances etc) used in residential and public buildings (schools, hotels, offices) in Nigeria through the introduction of appropriate energy efficiency policies and measures (such as Standards and Labels) and demand-side management programs. Another objective of the project will be to strengthen the regulatory and institutional framework, develop monitoring and enforcement mechanisms, provide training to appliance and equipment professionals, and launch a public outreach campaign to promote energy efficiency in Nigeria.

The activities to achieve these objectives are designed to enhancing the capacity of all relevant stakeholders at the national level of the concept, nature and potential of energy efficiency; develop policy and legal energy efficiency requirements of end-use appliances in Nigeria; train relevant professionals and carry out public outreaches; and conduct pilot project where 1 million compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) will be distributed in residential and public buildings in Nigeria. The project will assist the government of Nigeria to put in place comprehensive energy efficiency policy and legislation. It will help to minimize the building of power stations, helping to save money which will be invested in other sectors. This will consequently help in mitigating the emission of greenhouse gases resulting from generating energy. It will also help to increase Nigerian’s access to electricity.

Click here to access the project document.

For more information contact Maureen Lorenzetti (mlorenzetti@thegef.org)

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