The new street lights are to replace existing high-energy consuming street lights as part of efforts to save energy and enhance security in those areas.

Dubbed: the Energy Efficiency and Demand Side Management (EEDSM) project, it is one of six major projects under the five-year, $489-million Millennium Challenge Compact (MCC) signed between Ghana and the United States (US).

Installation

Speaking to journalists in Accra on Thursday, the Project Manager of the EEDSM project at the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA), Mr Sylvester Ashong Ayayee, said ceremonial roads in the two municipalities would have the energy-saving lights installed to reduce waste in the energy supply chain.

“We are working with the Ministry of Energy and the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to ensure that contractors on the project deliver to meet required standards, so that we will not have to replace the lights after six months, since they will last for the next five years,” he said.

Project

The $2.4-million EEDSM project is aimed at reducing demand, especially during peak periods. It will also allow electricity supply to be expanded to meet the increasing demand in a timely, low-cost and sustainable way.

Apart from replacing the street lights, 1,000 households across the country will have their electronic gadgets assessed to ensure that they are energy efficient.

“If we find households that use gadgets that consume more power, we will educate them on the need for them to conserve power by using energy-efficient appliances,” Mr Ayayee said.

He said MiDA would, under the EEDSM project, also undertake some key activities, including the development and enforcement of standards and labels, improvement in energy auditing and public information and education programmes.

Auditing centres

MiDA also intends to establish energy-auditing centres in three yet-to-be-selected tertiary institutions for the building of capacity for energy auditors who work towards the reduction in wastage in the energy supply systems of various institutions.

“Most government institutions have energy managers but they do not have energy auditors and we need to train more of such professionals,” said Mr Ayayee.

As part of the demand side management infrastructure, he said, six facilities owned by the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, the University of Ghana, the Department of Urban Roads, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education had been earmarked for retrofitting to replace the existing high-energy consumption.

“We will rewire the buildings, change air conditioners and install solar rooftops to safe power,” he explained.

MiDA would also embark on a “vigorous public sensitisation campaign to create awareness of the need to use energy efficient electronic gadgets and conserve power”.

The move, he pointed out, was to  ensure behavioural change by working with the Ministry of Education to include in the educational curricular energy conservation models “as part of plans to catch them young. Through these activities we can make electricity available to more consumers at a lower cost”.

For her part, the Director of Communications and Outreach at MiDA, Ms Pamela Djamson-Tettey, said it was hoped that “children will learn how to conserve energy at school and teach their parents and other relations at home to facilitate an attitudinal change drive”.