The federal government, through one of its agencies, Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) says it is developing the capacity of government officials in the development of policy and regulations that will enhance investment in industrial energy efficiency using Energy Management Systems Standards (EnMS) and ESO methodologies.
Acting Director-general, ECN, Engr. Joseph Sunday Olayande stated this at a one-day capacity building workshop on industrial energy efficiency policy/regulation formulation for government energy policy makers and regulators in Nigeria, held in Abuja.
The training was organised under a Project titled “Improving Nigeria’s Industrial Energy Performance through Programmatic Approaches and the Promotion of Innovation in Clean Technology Solutions (NIG IEE/RECP Project), supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), as well as other national stakeholders.
Olayande stated that under the project, the commission is expected to amongst others, strengthen National Industrial Energy Efficiency (IEE) Policies and Regulatory Frameworks towards the adoption of it’s Energy Management Systems Standards (EnMS/ESO/ISO 50001) in Nigeria”.
He said to achieve this, the ECN conducted an industrial energy efficiency policy, regulation, standards training needs assessment among government ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and it was discovered that while there exist overarching energy efficiency policies in the National Energy Policy (NEP) document approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on 27th April 2022, there is little or no concrete specific policies formulated by individual organisations and companies to mainstream energy efficiency best practices into sub-sectoral policies.
The Director-general said this had been traced to to limited capacity and knowledge of policy makers in the area of energy-efficiency (especially, industrial energy efficiency policies), hence the need for the training workshop to instil the necessary awareness, knowledge and international experience on industrial energy policy formulation and implementation using the training manual earlier developed.
Olayande further noted that while there exist overarching energy efficiency policies in Nigeria, such national overall policies need to be cascaded into concrete sector or industry-specific policies formulated by individual organisations/companies/ entities to mainstream energy efficiency best practices into the day-to-day operation of such firms.
“This Workshop therefore, is to improve the knowledge base of government policy makers for strengthened national Industrial Energy Efficiency (IEE) policy & regulatory environments,” he added.
A representative from UNIDO, Oluyomi Banjo recognised energy efficiency’s potential to optimise energy security and highlighted UNIDO’s commitment to collaborating with Nigeria to achieve efficiency benefits.
In his remarks, the director of linkages, research and consultancy at the ECN, Engr. Okon Ekpenyong presented samples of energy-efficiency policy initiatives and reiterated the need for the policies to be adapted to local contexts, as what works well in one setting may not be as effective in another, adding that to create an environment conducive to a national energy efficiency programme, policies should be enacted at the appropriate levels (national, state, local) to remove barriers and encourage the development and implementation of energy efficiency practices.
A representative from the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Clara Nmabaraye, also highlighted the energy efficiency sector’s potential for women’s empowerment, youth development and national growth and pointed out that energy management policy is key to harnessing these opportunities.
