Palikir, Pohnpei—The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) has launched an energy efficiency project that will accelerate new and ongoing efforts toward achieving the nation’s goal to improve its energy efficiency.
The Micronesia Public Sector Buildings Energy Efficiency (MPSBEE) project will attempt to remove the barriers and will assist the FSM government to meet its targets
"I express my sincere hope that the MPSBEE project will help the nation achieve our energy efficiency targets within three years," FSM President David Panuleo said. "Being energy efficient will mean less negative impact on our environment, paying less for electricity, and due to being more efficient, fewer blackouts."
The 2012 FSM National and State Energy Policy set a target of 50 percent improvement in energy efficiency by 2020.
However, due to implementation resource constraints and other barriers, the FSM has not been able to achieve its energy efficiency targets to date. The MPSEE project intends to address this.
Being energy-efficient means using less energy to perform an action; whether it’s cooling an office with an air conditioner, using a washing machine to clean clothes, or flipping a light switch to see in the dark, electrical devices need energy. Being energy efficient benefits the whole of society, from lowering environmental impacts of energy use to lowering the total amount of cash power purchased to run one’s home.
Darlynn Henry, MPSBEE project manager, said the Global Environment Facility has approved a grant funding assistance of $1.7 million for the project.
The project was officially launched on April 20 with an inception workshop facilitated by the MPSBEE Project Management Unit (PMU) and was attended by key stakeholders of the MPSBEE project in Pohnpei. The participants included representatives from government line agencies, state utilities and non-governmental organizations, UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji, UNDP regional hub (Bangkok), the FSM Department of Resources and Development and the Pacific Community (SPC).
In his keynote address, Levan Bouadze, resident representative of the UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji, recalled the UN General Assembly's December 2012 declaration of 2014 -2024 as "The Decade of Sustainable Energy for All."
"Directly relevant to this is the development objective of MPSBEE, that is, the improved application of energy-conserving and energy-efficient techniques and practices in the design, retrofit, operation, and maintenance of public sector buildings," Bouadze said.
The major proceeding of the inception workshop included familiarization of the project objective, its relevant outcomes, outputs, activities, management arrangement, budget and work plan, followed by discussions on the status of co-financing.
ADVERTISEMENT
The MPSBEE project document was signed by FSM and UNDP on Dec. 14, 2020.
Key activities that will be carried out under the MPSBEE project include the formulation of recommended energy conservation and energy efficiency policies, practices, and applications in public sector buildings; development of a public sector Building Energy Audit System; design of energy conservation and energy efficiency technology application demonstrations; implementation of building energy conservation and energy efficiency demonstrations; and many more that will strengthen the energy efficiency strategies of the FSM.
“I have full and total faith and confidence in our Department of Resources & Development, and in the kind assistance from our development partners at the United Nations," Panuelo said.
Subscribe to
our digital
monthly edition
Comments