Households are expected to save about GH¢1,300 a year, by replacing old air conditioners with new ones, rating 3-star and above.
Government is also projecting to save over 465 Giga watt hours (GWh) of electricity in the next 10 years as the country gears up to fully roll out the ECOWAS Refrigerators and Air Conditioners Initiative (ECOFRIDGES).
Speaking at the launch of the initiative in Accra, Director, Renewable & Nuclear Energy at the Energy Ministry, Wisdom Ahiataku-Togobo underscored the importance of the initiative to the economy.
“The ECOFRIDGES will bring benefit to government, households and businesses took and it is has a sustainable financial mechanism that will enable customers to acquire energy-efficient and climate-friendly ACs and refrigeration appliances”, he emphasized.
“ECOFRIDGES addresses a significant hurdle in the market uptake of new energy-efficient appliances, improves standards of clearing secondhand appliances on the market, and makes it possible for people to use air conditioners and fridges” Mr Ahiataku-Togobo stressed.
Executive Secretary of the Energy Commission, Oscar Amonoo-Neizer, described the ECOFRIDGES initiative as a timely intervention particularly at a time that the Commission is heightening the campaign against home-used electrical appliances adding that it will save consumers money on their electricity bills.
Some financial institutions have hooked on to the platform to provide interest free loans to salaried workers in order to have access to the energy efficient AC’s and Refrigerators including Ecobank, Fidelity, Absa Bank, Cal Bank and Letshego.
Meanwhile, ECOFRIDGES is a joint project by the Governments of Ghana through the Energy Commission, Senegal, the United Nations Environment Programme’s united for Efficiency (UNEP U4E) initiative and the Basel Agency for Sustainable Energy (BASE).
Story: Henry George Martinson@radiogoldlive.com
