Energy Efficiency Training Week for Latin America begins in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO – The Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), the International Energy Agency (IEA) and Eletrobras kicked-off the Energy Efficiency Training Week for Latin America today.

The five-day event held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is held under the sponsorship of CAF, Eletrobras and the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation (BMZ) through the German Development Bank (KfW)

The plenary opening day includes presentations from high-level speakers and experts from Brazil’s Ministry of Mines and Energy, Argentina’s Ministry of Energy and Mines, the Germany Embassy in Brazil, CAF, KfW, IEA, Eletrobras and Brazil’s Energy Research Enterprise (EPE).

Overall, the Energy Efficiency Training Week for Latin America is being attended by more than 110 participants from 17 countries in Latin America. It brings together the "next generation" of energy efficiency professionals from government institutions and supporting organizations in the Region.

The training consists of four parallel courses on energy efficiency across demand sectors - buildings; industry; lighting, appliances and equipment; and transport. Participants will take part in a variety of in-depth seminars, interactive discussions and exercises on policy, regulations and standards in each course, along with a site visit. Participants will also attend sessions on assessing the potential for energy efficiency, tracking progress, communication campaigns as well as measuring the social and economic benefits of energy-efficiency measures.

Following the completion of the training, participants will become part of an international community of practice on energy efficiency. This will provide training alumni the opportunity to stay in touch with one another and provide them with continued access to training and examples of best practices in energy efficiency policy-making.

The Energy Efficiency Training Week for Latin America builds on the annual IEA energy efficiency in emerging economies training weeks held in Paris, which aims to equip energy efficiency policy makers with knowledge and skills to be more effective in their roles.