THE Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) hosted a one-day workshop, yesterday, on ‘Measuring for Efficient Energy Management’ at the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre (Red House), in High Street, Georgetown.

The stakeholders were sensitised about the need to optimise efficiency of fuel and energy consumption.
The facilitator, energy management specialist/energy audit regulator, Dr. Carl Duncan told the Guyana Chronicle that the programme was executed to establish practices and measures that are needed for the adoption of energy efficiency activities within the local manufacturing and commercial sectors.
He said the GMSA and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) came together and decided to have some consultancies to carry out studies in several pilot industries.
Duncan said the seminar is geared towards sensitisation within the various companies on the necessity to optimise the efficient consuming of fuel and energy in their respective entities.
He pointed out that it is also a follow-up to activities that were carried out previously by another consultant and a next phase is to be executed in August/September.
Duncan made power point presentations to participants from Guyana Power & Light (GPL), Guyana Energy Agency (GEA), Sterling Products Limited (SPL), TCL Guyana Inc., Bank of Guyana, Brass Aluminium and Cast Iron Foundry (BACIF) and National Milling Company (NAMILCO).
He also talked about barriers to energy efficiency, while Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GEA, Mr. Mahender Sharma spoke about his entity’s audits.
GMSA President, Mr. Clinton Williams made opening remarks on the occasion, where the objective was to outline the purpose, approach, execution and results achieved in the first segment of the project, the Energy Efficiency Ratings Survey and the direction and aims of the second phase, the Energy Audit, which began on June 17 last.

CONTENTIOUS ISSUE
The project is critical to the development of enterprises in Guyana and directly addresses the often contentious issue of high energy costs. It is aimed, as well, at sensitising companies to the best means of measuring and managing their energy distribution equipment/components and consumption.
Funding for it is jointly through an IDB and GMSA grant.
The undertaking is intended to assist local companies, especially in the manufacturing and services sectors, to make the most efficient use of their energy applications and, simultaneously, employ the most effective methods of energy conservation.
This applies both to companies powered from the national grid and those which self-generate.
The project was designed to address three distinct but interrelated components of energy management, such as conservation, consumption and alternative sources.
Ultimately, the objective is to improve output and, significantly, reduce expenditures generated from lighting equipment and accessories, heating and cooling appliances and motorised drives and electronic and other major related consuming assets.
It is divided into two major components:
* an energy efficiency rating study designed to establish a data baseline, showing consumption, utilisation and cost patterns, and
* an energy and study which would involve live-in plant measurements and monitoring of electrical assets. The data will be used to derive variance analyses between actual and rated consumption levels.
Ultimately, the teams must recommend corrective actions, whether technological, structural or procedural, that will improve energy efficiencies on the ground.