Bahrain ,world bank sign agreement on energy efficiency program

The Government of Bahrain and the World Bank signed today an agreement for an Energy Efficiency Implementation Program. The Program aims to provide technical support and advisory services to the Government of Bahrain to address the challenge of curbing energy demand in the country over the next three years. The agreement was signed by Sheikh Ahmed Bin Mohamed Al Khalifa, Bahrain's Minister of Finance, and Farrukh Iqbal, World Bank Director for GCC countries, Bahrain News Agency (BNA) reported. Per capita energy consumption in Bahrain is amongst the highest in the world, reaching 11,800 Kilowatt Hours in 2012 with a peak demand of slightly over 2,900 Megawatt Hours. Annual electricity demand has been growing at around 10 percent in recent years due in particular to low electricity tariffs that do not incentivize the efficient use of energy. By 2020, energy demand is expected to reach 19,706 Gigawatt Hours with a peak demand of 4,312 Megawatts. The Energy Efficiency Implementation Program seeks to reduce inefficient energy consumption in the buildings sector covering residential, commercial, and public buildings. "The World Bank is leveraging its global expertise to support Bahrain in reducing the inefficient use of electricity through a sustainable national energy efficiency program," said Iqbal. "The Program will set energy efficiency incentives and targets, identify priority interventions, raise awareness, support implementation efforts, and assist in performance monitoring." An implementation strategy will be developed along with an institutional energy efficiency model that fits Bahrain's needs and conditions. Awareness raising campaigns will be rolled out to better inform consumers and retailers about energy efficiency labeling for appliances. Building codes will be developed to redirect investments to energy efficient technologies in support of Bahrain's Vision 2030. Finally, the Program will also support the installation of smart meters. This will optimize energy use by targeted consumers such as public buildings and large commercial and industrial consumers.