17 June 2012: The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) and the Super-efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment (SEAD) initiative have announced a partnership to implement the ECOWAS Energy Efficiency “Standards and Labels” initiative, in support of the UN Secretary General’s Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) initiative.

SEAD will provide technical and analytical support to develop policies and standards for the ECOWAS “Standards and Labels” initiative. The initiative aims to harmonize product efficiency rating systems and their functioning, and is part of ECOWAS’ regional energy efficiency policy, which will be presented for consideration by ECOWAS energy ministers in October 2012. The policy attempts to mitigate peak loads and related costs of caused power cuts and load shedding, offering opportunities to redirect energy and financial savings to rural electrification projects, and to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) released by fossil fuel use.

SEAD is an initiative under the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) and the International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation (IPEEC) to support energy efficiency policies and programmes. ECREEE, established with support from the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), aims to establish regional renewable energy and energy efficiency markets in West Africa. [SEAD Press Release]