Energy Consumption and Energy Saving Potential in the Tertiary Sector: Case Study

Abstract

The main objective of this work is to analyze the energy consumption and the Energy Saving Potential in a sector of the Beninese economy: Case study city of Porto Novo. To achieve this goal, this research relied on literature reviews and the energy audit that were carried out in the buildings of the city hall and the districts of Porto Novo. The energy audit revealed the following situations: the devices in the various buildings are very old and the buildings consume more electrical energy. Indeed, with a need of 313.219 kWh of energy per day, these buildings consume up to 502.06 kWh per day, causing a loss of 188.84 kWh of energy per day. To overcome these various problems, the local authorities of the city of Porto Novo were offered the use of LED lamps (street lights) or solar street lights for public lighting. A proposal that could lead them to make savings ranging from 163,476,000 F to 250,000,000 F per year on public lighting in the city with the possibility of using non-polluting energy and thus participate in reducing the production of greenhouse gas. In addition, at the level of the buildings under the responsibility of the city hall of Porto-Novo. It has recommended that some behaviors for the Eco-responsible use of electrical energy, the systematic replacement of old installations by economical devices. Finally, the implementation of a hybrid system is highly needed currently which will also reduce the costs of the city hall's electricity consumption. These actions resulted in huge energy savings and lowered the city hall's electricity bill.