| ECOWAS Energy Efficiency Policy Action Underway
 As part of its ongoing collaboration with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE), the en.lighten initiative held a workshop in October on improving lighting and appliance energy efficiency for high-ranking representatives from energy and standardization agencies of the 15 ECOWAS member states.
The workshop took place in Cotonou, Benin with more than 100 participants from various sectors involved in energy issues. The participants included representatives from the National Rural Electrification Agency in ECOWAS member states, standards and labels technical committee members, efficient lighting working group members, the ECOWAS commission, and other regional and international stakeholders.
The workshop aimed to review and validate an assessment of the institutional and regulatory framework for the standardization and labelling of energy efficient equipment in ECOWAS member states. This included addressing the development of a Regional Efficient Lighting Strategy and identifying financial options for the implementation of the regional appliance standards and labelling initiative. The work to date has helped to advance key initiatives in the ECOWAS Energy Efficiency Policy, which ECOWAS energy ministers adopted in October 2012.
ECOWAS could save more than 60 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity per year by 2030 by adopting best practice efficiency standards for efficient lighting and other appliances (refrigerators, air conditioners). To put this figure into perspective, 60 TWh is nearly as much electricity as was consumed by the entire ECOWAS region in 2011.
The energy savings achieved through more efficient lighting helps to mitigate peak loads and related power cuts, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and deliver financial savings that can boost sustainable development.
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