The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) Energy Service Centre has organised a training session for 14 industrial and commercial companies in Eastern Region on renewable energy and energy efficiency.

The two-day training programme aimed to equip the players in business establishments with project development, tendering and procurement of renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Participants went through various opportunities of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects, energy management systems, best ways to maximise energy savings and how to explore their companies' potential for renewables and energy efficiency.

They also learnt about topics such as renewable energy and energy efficiency project development, interesting facts about markets, education, properties speculation, Ghana renewable energy policy and framework.

Other areas included procurement of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects and leasing contracts for solar PV and how to start one's renewables or energy efficiency.

The AGI Energy Service Centre since its launch in September 2019 has been working to promote the adoption of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies.

The Centre supports companies in their renewable energy and energy efficiency projects and provides reliable and credible advisory services to large commercial and industrial electricity consumers and renewable energy service providers.

The services include technical, implementation and transactional advisory support to businesses that intend to adopt renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies, second opinions on renewable energy proposals received by companies, energy audits and solar feasibility studies.

The Centre is a component of the bilateral project between Germany and Ghana known as "Market Entry into Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency for the Productive Sector in Ghana" which is implemented by the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) and Ghana's Ministry of Energy and the Energy Commission.

Mr Jan-Henrik Baur, GFA Consulting Group in Germany, said both renewable energy and energy efficiency were possible techniques that can help companies to become more competitive in a sustainable way by reducing their utility cost.

The training, he said, participants would be able to identify potentials in their companies on either renewable energy or energy efficiency and focus on that particular project to make their company produce cheaper energy.

Mr Dela Gadzanku, Chairman Eastern, Volta and Oti branch of the AGI, urged members to take advantage of the services offered by the AGI service centre to reduce their cost of production to become more competitive on the market.

A participant, Mr Eric Adu, Technical Manager at FairAfric producers of Organic Chocolate, said most companies were unaware of the services offered by the energy centre and, therefore, unable to capitalise on the technology to save the cost of production.

He commended the AGI Service centre for creating awareness through its training for the manufacturing firms to know that such services for renewable energy and energy efficiency existed and could be tapped into.