Electricity Minister opens conference

Manama, Apr. 15 (BNA): Electricity and Water Affairs Minister Dr. Abdulhussain Mirza inaugurated the International Conference on Sustainable Buildings and Renewable Energies, organized by the Kingdom University in collaboration with the International Renewable Energy Network. The minister delivered the keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the conference, being held on the theme, Sustainable Buildings and Renewable Energy. The minister spoke about the sustainable energy sector in Bahrain and leadership’s interest in the field as well as their efforts to promote sustainable development. He also spoke on the Sustainable Development Unit, which aims to promote investment in renewable energy, particularly solar energy. He said the government has set up national goals to achieve specific percentages of total renewable energy. This includes 5 per cent renewable energy use out of the total consumption of electricity by 2025 and 10 per cent by 2035. It also looks at the goal of increasing the efficiency of energy consumption to 6 per cent by 2035. The minister said the Council of Ministers had approved a plan to set up the National Energy Efficiency Commission (NEEAP) and the National Renewable Energy Plan (NREAP) a year ago. A national committee for the implementation of these plan initiatives has also been established. The Committee is chaired by the Minister of Electricity and Water Affairs and its members include senior officials from all relevant ministries and government bodies. The National Energy Efficiency Plan includes 22 initiatives. For buildings, it includes the building efficiency code, lighting and home appliances specifications, a green buildings initiative, classification of buildings in terms of efficiency, specifications of air conditioning, cooling areas and finding competencies of the field. For the supply of electricity, the plan includes the efficiency of the production of electricity, the correction coefficient of loads, the efficiency of transmission and distribution of electricity and smart meters. For the government side, the plan includes efficiency of lamps for government buildings, green government procurement, street lighting and energy management in government buildings. For the economic sectors, it stipulates tariff restructuring, legislative structure, dissemination of information and data, while for the transport sector, it includes efficient transport and restructuring of government support in the transport sector. In the industrial sector, it includes programmes of industrial companies to raise energy efficiency. The National Renewable Energy Plan includes six initiatives. This includes solar projects on rooftops, wind power projects on land and at sea, large central solar power plant projects, solar home installation requirements and new projects (housing and investment projects), renewable energy requirements in new infrastructure projects such as bridges and railways Ferrous, electric power generation of organic materials extracted from wastewater. The minister thanked the organizers, headed by the president and staff of the university, and members of the International Renewable Energy Network as well as the sponsors, speakers and participants. The opening ceremony also included a speech by the university President Professor Yusuf Abdul Ghaffar and a speech by a representative of the International Renewable Energy Network. A series of workshops and lectures by experts and university professors from Britain, Italy, Romania, Iraq and Malaysia are also part of the deliberations. The two-day conference will cover the latest developments in the field of energy and sustainable and green building design.