Ghana Standards Authority holds seminar on energy management
The Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) on Monday opened a three-day national seminar on Energy Management and the ISO 50001.
The seminar which was jointly organised by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) with financial support from the Swiss Secretariat of Economic Affairs (SECO), would inform stakeholders about the requirements of the ISO 50001.
The ISO 50001, a voluntary International Standard developed by the ISO in 2011, provides organisations with an internationally recognised framework to manage and improve their energy performance.
The objective of the seminar is to raise awareness and understanding among authorities and industry in Ghana about energy management and energy efficiency standards, business opportunities, existing practices, implications as well as the potential impact of the ISO 50001 Energy Management Standard.
It would provide a platform for specialists from industry, government and academia to share experiences and discuss issues related to the implementation of energy management and the ISO 50001 Standards.
Mr Ben Richard Aniagyei, President of the Ghana Institution of Engineers, said the ISO 50001 Standard addresses energy use and consumption, measurement, documentation and reporting of energy use and consumption.
It also tackles design and procurement practices for energy-using equipment, systems and processes, development of an energy management plan and other factors affecting energy performance that could be monitored and influenced by the organisation.
He explained that although the ISO 50001 did not include prescriptive energy performance goals, it provided a framework through which each organisation could set and pursue its own goals for improving energy performance.
Mr Aniagyei said the efficient and environmental sustainable generation and distribution of adequate energy had become a global concern due to its socio-economic implications.
Energy affects all aspect of the society and its shortage could bring about unpleasant consequences on economies, countries and daily lives of the people, he said.
Mr Aniagyei mentioned some of the challenges facing the energy sector as the increasing cost of generation, poor power supply to the consumer and above all, lack of prudent, efficient and effective use of energy.
“There is therefore the need to adopt prudent energy management systems that involve the process of targeting, monitoring, controlling and conserving energy for the present and the future while exploring the application of renewable energy sources to reduce the environmental impact of such activities,” he said.
He indicated that the energy situation deserve continued attention as access to reliable power supply would open up new opportunities for economic activity and industrial development.
Mr Aniagyei urged stakeholders to embrace and commit themselves to energy conservation management systems and best practices as a shared responsibility both at the domestic and industry levels, to help in reducing energy cost and the cost of doing business.
“Much as industry expects government and other stakeholders to adopt prudent energy generation and distribution measures, industry leaders particularly the SMEs (small and medium scale industries) are equally expected to drastically reduce the energy wastage by adopting cleaner production measures,” he said.
Dr George Ben Crentsil, Executive Director of GSA, in an address read on his behalf, indicated that as a national standards body it is very much aware that standards are created in an open, consensus-driven process and work smoothly across national borders.
Crentsil said it was in the light of this that the GSA was greatly committed towards promoting the use of the ISO 50001 Energy Management Standard to promote efficiency in the energy sector.
According to him the main objective of the ISO 50001 was to get rid of waste in energy consumption to help mitigate its impact on the environment, climate change and enhance competitiveness in industry.
Source: GNA