Capacity Building for enabling institutions in East and Southern Africa

Improved institutional capacity is one of the project outcomes of the Energy Efficient Lighting and Appliances in East and Southern Africa (EELA).This will be achieved by providing trainings to the key enabling institutions such as test laboratories, standard bodies, regulators as well as the private sector. The Swedish Energy Agency with the support of the Swedish Life Academy are developing an online training which will be linked to the websites of East African Centre of Excellence for Renewable Energy and Efficiency (EACREEE) and the Southern African Development Community Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (SACREEE). The training will be divided into the following modules:

  1. Introductory module
  2. Lighting
  3. Clean Cooling
  4. Productive Use
  5. Market Development

The Introductory Module will give the participants knowledge about policies, technologies, standards and market environment regarding energy efficient lighting and appliances, the potential for saving energy and obtaining several optional benefits. The sub modules include i) introduction to EE appliances, ii) policy and regulation, iii) market surveillance and iv) market systems development. Modules b) to d) will take a deep dive into the technical aspects of the subject matter including standards, testing and test procedures. Module e), Market Development will focus specifically on the core market players as a target group, such as private companies, energy service companies (ESCOs), manufacturers, retailers, importers, consumer organisations. The main objective will be to sensitise the core market players about current and potential market opportunities in the introduction and utilization of energy efficient lighting and appliances, as well as on how they can utilize the various incentives, support services and rules/regulations in the field.

A special group per country will be formed as National Change Agents Group comprising of the National Technical Committees and other additional experts to enable them to develop physical projects such as policy or MEPS for an appliance that could be adopted in their respective country.