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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Regulator moots Energy Managers for govt buildings

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MUSCAT, JULY 30 - An insightful energy audit of government buildings commissioned by the Authority for Electricity Regulation Oman (AER) has revealed that electrical systems and fixtures are left operating even on weekends, resulting in electricity consumption levels that match those on weekdays when offices are typically shut. The energy audit is part of a series of initiatives launched by the regulator in line with its mandate to, among other things, develop and implement energy efficiency programmes in the Sultanate — a responsibility assigned to the Authority by the Financial Affairs and Energy Resources Council in 2015.


“The main objective of the audits is to understand the trends and drivers of electricity consumption, as well as identify measures and recommendations on how electricity can be more efficiently consumed in these buildings,” the Authority stated in its newly published Annual Report 2017. As part of the energy audit covering a number of government buildings, the Authority collected electricity consumption data over a three-year period prior to the audit, along with hourly consumption trends throughout the audit. Analysis of the data yielded several startling details. “While the majority of days have a normal trend of consumption, where electricity is mostly consumed during working hours (6am to 3pm), there are a few days where clearly some equipment and appliances (are left switched on beyond this period),” the Authority said in its analysis of hourly consumption trends during weekdays.


Expectedly, air-conditioning accounted for 66 per cent of total energy consumption during the audit, lighting 12 per cent, and other office equipment and systems 22 per cent. “Space cooling is evidently the major driver of energy consumption in government buildings. For this reason, the majority of the audit’s recommendations was to reduce consumption and improve the buildings’ efficiency were to do with cooling,” the report noted.


Foremost among the recommendations listed by the Authority is the need to assign energy conservation tasks to a specific individual working in that particular government department.


“Dedicate an energy manager to ensure that cooling systems, lighting and other office equipment are switched off when not needed. This also includes removing unnecessary bulbs from naturally lit areas; constraining the use of spot and decorative lighting to special events; and setting office equipment on power saving mode,” the regulator said. It also moots optimisation controls for chiller systems, which account for 17 per cent of total energy usage for space cooling purposes in government buildings. The installation of a control system helps determine when to add or subtract (off-load) a chiller, and whether they are to be operated at full load or part load operation, the Authority pointed out.


In other recommendations, the Authority proposes the use of inverter retrofits for split AC units, Variable Frequency Drive retrofits for Air Handling Units, VRF-AHC AC retrofits for package units, and adiabatic/evaporative cooling systems that use vapour to cool the surroundings of outdoor units of chillers. Also helpful to the goal of reducing energy consumption in buildings, the Authority says, is the use of heat reflective window film for external windows. This will result in substantial energy savings by reducing the solar heat gain. Likewise, “replace existing inefficient lighting such as fluorescent lamps, compact fluorescent, halogen etc, with more energy efficient equivalent LED lamps/fixtures”, the report adds.


Conrad Prabhu


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