Dar es Salaam — A Delegation of the European Union (EU) has said it will continue to collaborate with the Ministry of Energy in facilitating the development of a National Energy Efficiency Strategy.
This will be done through the EU Technical Assistance Facility for the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) initiative - Eastern and Southern Africa.
A statement issued by the EU office in Dar es Salaam yesterday said the facilitation started with a recent consultation workshop to discuss the scope and process in developing the 20-year Energy Efficiency Strategy for Tanzania.
The workshop also discussed advantages and challenges of energy efficiency, and the importance of the Energy Efficiency Strategy in achieving the overall goals of the 2015 National Energy Policy.
"The EU is a long standing partner supporting the energy sector in Tanzania," noted the statement signed by Anna Muro Temu, assistant Aid Effectiveness and Visibility officer at the EU office in Dar es Salaam.
In 2017, the EU supported the Ministry of Energy to develop an Energy Performance Regulatory Framework for large Buildings, and a Sh21 billion financing agreement will be signed shortly with the government of Tanzania to support the implementation of a four-year Energy Efficiency Programme. The EU head of Cooperation, Mr Jose Correia Nunes, said "Investing in energy efficiency creates jobs, fosters economic growth and improves energy security and delivery of more services to consumers."
In Tanzania, the energy balance is dominated by biomass use (charcoal and firewood) and its contribution to the total national energy consumption is about 90 per cent. Petroleum products contribute about 8 per cent of the total energy consumed, while electricity accounts for 1.5 per cent and 0.5 per cent from solar, coal, wind and other sources.
"Energy efficiency can play a significant role in reducing energy demand; energy cost and improves energy security," he said.
"Energy efficiency measures have the potential of scaling down capital investment needed to provide additional energy in power generation, transportation, industries, buildings," said the acting assistant commissioner (New & Renewable Energy) Ministry of Energy, Mr Styden Rwebangila.
He said this will be achieved only if energy efficiency policies, strategies and actions are put in place.
Will efforts by the government to provide enough and reliable energy, particularly electricity, be enough to allow for the country's socio-economic transformation?
