RP to spend P124M for energy efficient CFLs

The Philippines will spend about P124 million for an energy efficiency project designed to reduce the peak load demand in rural areas by 40 to 80 percent and save at least P22 million a year in electricity bills, the Department of Energy said Tuesday. Under the project, the existing light bulbs of at least 35 government-owned buildings would be replaced by compact fluorescent lamps or CFLs. Money for the project, estimated at $33.9 million would come from the Asian Development Bank ($31 million), ASEAN Energy Fund ($1.5 million), and Philippine government ($1.4 million). The project reflects efforts of the Energy Department to spread direct economic benefits to the populace by reducing energy demand and displacing imported fuel. Lighting accounts for more than 50 percent of the evening peak load in the rural Philippines, and the use of proven technology in efficient lighting can cut such demand by 40 to 80 percent, the department said. In other words, the department said that replacing incandescent bulbs with CFLs would reduce peak demand by 400 megawatts, reduce oil imports by $120 million each year, generate clean development mechanism revenues of about $10 million for 2010-2012, and create an energy efficient market. The department will bid out the project any time soon, and is supposed to be completed by the middle of 2011. The ADB would trade about 50 percent of the carbon credits from the project and the balance would be used by the Energy Department. — VS, GMANews.TV