DOE sees P50-M savings from light retrofitting

MANILA, Philippines - The use of energy-efficient lighting systems for street and pedestrian lights will result in roughly P50 million savings per year, an official of the Department of Energy (DOE) said.

The DOE, in partnership with the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, has completed the retrofitting of 159 traffic signals and pedestrian lights in Metro Manila from incandescent bulbs to those using light emitting diodes (LEDs).

Potential energy savings might reach 5.04 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year given the use of efficient lighting systems. This is equivalent to an annual savings of around P50 million, DOE undersecretary Loreta Ayson said.

“The importance of institutionalizing energy-efficiency initiatives has far-reaching effects on our environment and to the country’s power sector as a whole,” Ayson said.

A ceremonial switch-on event is scheduled on Sept. 24, highlighting the government’s thrust of reducing energy expenditure through energy efficiency and conservation measures.

Ayson said the projects are conducted under the Philippine Energy Efficiency Project (PEEP).

“We are doing 88 more retrofitting for traffic lights outside Metro Manila,” said Ayson, who is the project director for PEEP.

The DOE is also distributing 3.6 million energy-saving compact fluorescent lamps to 189 congressional district representatives and 51 party-list representatives, with potential savings of 82.778 million kwh per year valued at P827 million.

Last month, the DOE partnered with 12 government agencies in Visayas for a lighting systems retrofitting program for government buildings.

The Government Building Retrofit component of the PEEP will include 100 government buildings from Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.

The PEEP targets improving the lighting systems of government offices to save on electricity expenditures and help reduce the country’s carbon emissions.

As of February, the DOE has helped in the retrofitting of 35 government buildings with the aim of reducing energy consumption by 1.37 gigawatt-hours worth P13.7 million annually while cutting carbon emissions by 741 metric tons.