On the 31st of January 2023 representatives of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE), South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI) and the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) met to discuss for the first time with GIZ and GFA Consulting Group the status quo and way forward of the Cooling Program for Southern Africa (CooPSA).
CooPSA (opens in a new window) is funded by the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) of Germany. The project kicked-off in the beginning of 2022 and aims to prepare framework conditions of an Air Conditioner (AC) replacement programme in Botswana, Eswatini, Namibia and South Africa. Therefore, Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) as well as energy labels for ACs will be nationally adopted. Furthermore, an AC replacement programme introducing Green ACs, using the natural refrigerant R290 and which are highly energy efficient, will be designed. A sustainable financing instrument will be developed which considers carbon finance provided under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.
During the ad-hoc meeting, an exchange on the project and its status quo took place by sharing preliminary findings on MEPS and labelling for ACs as well as training approaches for AC trainers and technicians and by discussing preliminary results with respect to GHG baseline establishment and the financing structure. In addition, further guidance to the project implementing team for advancing the work was given. The meeting comprised 20 participants (5 virtual and 15 in presence).
