Since 2016, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning (RAC) experts from Grenada have been attending the international “Cool Training” organised by Proklima in Germany. In an effort to step up Grenada’s capacity to integrate the natural refrigerant technology, the “Cool Training” is coming to Grenada.
The Proklima training in Grenada will be hosted at the TA Marryshow Community College (TAMCC) and will take place over 2 weeks from 20-31 August 2018. The training will be conducted by GIZ technical consultant, Denis Huehren from Germany in partnership with Grenadian technicians who have already successfully completed the “Cool Training”.
The purpose of this training is not only to provide theoretical knowledge on the use of natural refrigerants in the air conditioning and refrigeration sector for up to 40 experts but to also intensively train a pool of technicians on the safe handling of natural refrigerants. With the assistance of the 7 experts that have successfully completed the Cool Training in Germany, Grenada will continue to build its technical capacity in the future. Grenada through TAMCC intends to establish a regional training hub that would be opened to participants from the Caricom member states.
The pilot training “Cool Training Grenada” forms part of the activities under the Global programme “Cool Contribution fighting Climate Change” (C4), that is implemented by the National Ozone Unit (NOU) in the Energy Division of the Ministry of Infrastructure Development, Public Utilities, Energy, Transport & Implementation and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and also funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) as part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI) to promote ozone-and climate-friendly technologies. Additional funding for the practical sessions of the training comes from the project “Sustainable and climate-friendly Phase out of Ozone Depleting Substances (SPODS)” that is co-funded by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
With the expansion of the cooling industry in tropical and equatorial countries, the global fight against climate change prompted the industry to find refrigerant solutions that are both ozone and climate-friendly. With the continued phase-down of refrigerants with a high global warming potential, natural refrigerants are becoming essential for future air conditioning and refrigeration technology. It is therefore critical for countries like Grenada be able to import and maintain equipment that uses such refrigerants.
By bringing the training to Grenada, and thereafter to the region, the project enables the countries to access this new technology before the outgoing, environmentally unfriendly gases, become unavailable and costly. Furthermore, this helps countries to achieve their commitment in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and work toward mitigating the impacts of climate change.
Ministry of Infrastructure Development
