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Stakeholders give input on new energy efficient project |23 January 2014

Stakeholders and partners promoting climate-resilient and resource-efficient technologies in the country met on Tuesday to give their input on a soon to be carried out energy efficient programme.

The programme, which aims to significantly reduce the rate of electricity consumption and water usage in residential sectors, has been developed and is being funded under the UNDP-GEF climate change programme.

The ‘Promotion and up-scaling of climate-resilient, resource-efficient technologies in a tropical island context project’ as it is better known, was approved at project concept stage in June last year and was launched during an inception workshop the following month.

This project will help the government and other stakeholders in identifying and overcoming policy, legal, capacity and financial barriers to the successful application of energy efficiency technologies particularly in buildings.

The total amount earmarked for this project is US $1.77 million and it is expected to start in the first half of 2014 following its validation.

“This project is essential in our quest for Seychelles to be among the most energy efficient economy in the south-west Indian Ocean region not because it is nice to have but because it is an essential part of how Seychelles is going to compete in this global race, in terms of rebuilding our industrial base on renewable energy and efficient energy. This is all about competition. This is all about growing efficiency to approach the wider and growing economy,” the principal secretary for Environment and Energy Wills Agricole said in remarks to launch the discussions during the workshop.

“It is important to reflect on the impact energy has on our daily lives and our country in general. Without energy we cannot have good homes, good communities and development. It is for this reason that Seychelles has decided to transform its economy from one that depends on petroleum to one benefiting from modern, efficient, clean and renewable sources of energy. This transformation will remain challenging as the costs of renewable and technical barriers still limit our ability to disseminate widely such technologies,” he pointed out.

He noted that our national campaign Lenerzi: Servi Byen, Viv Byen! has garnered the support of government agencies, NGOs, the private sector and the schools so that Seychelles can become a leader in energy efficiency and conservation in the region.

“So today presents an opportunity for us to reflect upon and make the necessary behavioural changes required of us to achieve the goal of reducing our monthly electricity and fuel bills in the long term, create wealth for our country and increase its energy security. Government cannot do it alone; we all need to reduce our energy consumption,” he stressed.
 
He noted that all consumers know when we save electricity we retain more money in our pockets.

“This new project after validation and when the implementation phase begins will help us do just that,” he pointed out.

Before delegates started indepth discussions and gave their input on the project, Mmy Razanjatovo from the Seychelles Energy Commission gave an overview of Seychelles’ energy efficiency policies, strategies and regulatory/legal set up.

Roger Toussaint from the Ministry of Finance, Trade and Investment who is the programme administrator for the Seychelles Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Programme (SEEREP) also gave a detailed presentation on the programme which is to take effect this month.

Mr Toussaint explained that the main objective of SEEREP is to encourage the adoption of energy-efficient home appliances, lighting consumables and solar water heaters in the domestic residential sector, made accessible to the public through an affordable finance from the commercial banks.

SEEREP is set to run for the next three years and is an initiative of the government of Seychelles, supported by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector investment arm of the World Bank Group.  
 
The project is expected to provide immense benefits which the country will stand to gain from saving an estimated USD 30-40 million the Public Utilities Corporation (PUC) used to purchase fossil fuels.

More details on the programme is expected to be announced soon, Mr Toussaint said.

 

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