ECOFRIDGES to start pilot phase in Rwanda in new year

19 / 12 / 2021

By Marwa Nassar - -

The ECOWAS Refrigerators and Air Conditioners Initiative (ECOFRIDGES) for energy-saving appliances will start a pilot stage in Rwanda in the new year of 2022 after its success in Ghana and Senegal.

The initiative was launched in Ghana in October 2020, with Senegal following shortly after. The initiative was started to help make new energy efficient fridges and air conditioners affordable to consumers and to combat the dumping of energy inefficient products in Africa.

Since the launch of ECOFRIDGES, over 1,000 new, energy efficient fridges and air conditioners have been sold in Ghana and a similar ramp-up is anticipated in Senegal.

“The market dominance of outdated cooling appliances costs Africans dearly in terms of electricity bills, energy security, safety and the broader impacts on the planet,” said Brian Holuj, a Program Management Officer at UNEP’s United for Efficiency (U4E).

“We are working hard alongside officials, vendors and banks in Ghana and Senegal to make the best new technologies affordable and accessible while offering incentives that support the collection and recycling of used products.”

Not only can older appliances be dangerous, with non-authentic parts used in patch repairs, but they are inefficient, with refrigerators and air conditioners often consuming three times the electricity of appliances readily available in mature markets.

The inefficiency of cooling products adds further strain to stretched power grids and, when electricity is supplied by thermal power plants, increases air and water pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

Old or sub-standard refrigerators and air conditioners contain gases that can be released during repairs or after disposal. Some of those are greenhouse gases that are thousands of times more potent than refrigerants used in newer, more energy-efficient products.

“The dumping of outdated cooling appliances costs Africans dearly in terms of electricity bills, energy security, safety, and the broader impacts on the planet,” said Holuj.

Cooling Emissions and Policy Synthesis, a UNEP and International Energy Agency (IAEA) report, found that by combining energy efficiency improvements and transitioning away from super-polluting refrigerants, greenhouse gas emissions of between 210 – 460 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent could be avoided over the next four decades.

Based on 2018 levels, this equates to between four to eight years of total annual global greenhouse gas emissions.

Reliable data is difficult to find in many African markets, so the scale of these challenges is hard to quantify. However, a report by the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development and CLASP found that out of a sampling of 650,00 new imported air conditioners sold in Africa, 170,000 would not meet the energy efficiency standards in the countries of origin.

With a grant from the Clean Cooling Collaborative, UNEP and the Basel Agency for Sustainable Energy are partnering with government agencies, local banks and vendors to offer interest-free loans to ensure that wage earners can purchase the most energy efficient and climate-friendly fridges and air conditioners.

“Traditionally, one of the biggest hurdles stopping buyers in sub-Saharan Africa from buying new, efficient cooling products has been the initial price premium, and with interest rates over 20 percent, consumer financing was not a compelling option,” said Holuj. “We have seen that if we make affordable financing available and proper oversight and outreach are conducted, we can transform these markets.”

As part of the offering, those buying new appliances can trade in their old refrigerator or air conditioner for a voucher that is valid for future purchases. This ensures potentially environmentally damaging products are disposed of safely and taken off the market.