By Lydia
Kukua Asamoah, GNA
Accra, Oct. 25, GNA – The Deutsche
Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Environmental
Protection Agency Ghana (EPA) has in partnership with Midea China, given
training to some air-conditioning technicians to enable them handle natural
refrigerants being introduced in the country.
The training, which was organised at the Refrigeration
Center of Excellence of the Accra Technical Training Center (ATTC), falls under
the GIZ’ s Green Cooling Initiative (GCI) programme being implemented in
partnership with Ghanaian and the German governments.
The Green Cooling Initiative, being funded by
the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and
Nuclear Safety (BMU) and implemented by GIZ in collaboration with the EPA,
supports Ghana in its green cooling strategy.
The training follows the handing-over of 380
R290 Air Conditioners (ACs) to some Ghanaian companies under a public-private
partnership, for demonstration purposes earlier in September.
The development of local capacity in the
refrigeration and air-conditioning sector supports Ghana’s target to reduce CO2
emissions from the cooling sector with the introduction of climate-friendly
technologies.
Ghana has pledged to transition its
air-conditioning market to green cooling solutions in its Intended Nationally
Determined Contribution (INDC) to the United Nations Framework convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC) Paris Agreement.
A release issued by Ms Franziska Clara
Hartwig, Proklima International, Advisor, Climate Change, Environment, and
Infrastructure Division of GIZ, and copied to the Ghana News Agency on Thursday
said the Green ACs are engineered to operate with the natural refrigerant R290
and that they were to be introduced gradually onto the Ghanaian market on a
broader scale.
According to the release, the EPA was in the
process of setting ambitious targets to ensure a market penetration of green
ACs of about 70 per cent by 2030 in order to avoid greenhouse emissions of up
to 7, 86 Mt CO2 eq from being released into the atmosphere.
It said many natural refrigerants, such as
R290, are flammable and require careful handling.
Therefore, a successful introduction of
climate-friendly R290 ACs, would have to go hand in hand with the development
of local technical expertise in the safe handling.
The training was conducted in collaboration
with Midea, a world leading AC manufacturer from China, and the Climate Change
and Ozone department of EPA.
The successful completion of the training saw
15 technicians who are now qualified to safely handle the natural refrigerant
R290 in green ACs in the country.
The building of local capacity to install,
service and maintain green cooling AC for technology demonstrations would
contribute significantly to Ghana’s climate targets under the UNFCCC.
GNA