Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed, President of the Electricity and Water Authority (EWA), affirmed the authority’s commitment to implementing its strategic plans to increase energy efficiency and reduce electricity consumption, in line with national efforts to achieve net zero by 2060.
He affirmed that following the approval of Cabinet, chaired by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, the national programme “Kafa’a” will be launched to reduce electricity consumption in buildings in private and public sectors in the Kingdom.
The president said that EWA is prepared to launch the Kafa’a programme, in cooperation with Energy Service Companies (ESCOs), to increase the efficiency of energy consumption in government buildings.
Kafa’a aims to save electricity consumption by around 975 GWh and reduce carbon emissions by about 488,000 tonnes by 2040. The programme will also contribute to flattening energy usage during peak hours, which will mitigate the need for additional generation capacity.
The president affirmed the important role of the programme in raising awareness on energy efficiency.
He affirmed that they will begin a process for ESCOs to audit the energy consumption of the selected buildings, through upgrading the energy efficiency in the buildings, while monitoring and verifying the impact, and providing financing solutions to public sector customers.
He noted that ESCOs is considered one of the solutions to achieve Bahrain’s goals of conserving energy and resources, as well as achieving net zero by 2060.
EWA completed a pilot project to improve the energy efficiency of four government buildings in cooperation with ESCOs Last year. The results showed that energy consumption was reduced by 41 percent annually, while bills decreased by 39 percent and carbon emissions were reduced by 5,430 tonnes.
BNA(R)
