Kenya to Provide Energy-Saving Bulbs to Conserve Energy
The Kenyan Government will give out one million energy-preserving bulbs in exchange for the ordinary ones to preserve power as hydro-electricity sources fail to reach demand because of low rains. Users will be expected to discard their standard bulbs at designated points in exchange for the energy saving ones in the exercise desired to commence this month.
A standard household energy saving bulb of 18 watts by brands like Philips costs Sh300 while those of brands like Dreamlite and Sannex go for Sh140.
If the government decides to go for Phillips, it will spend Sh300 million and about Sh140 million on other brands without factoring in the obtainment, distribution and discarding (of standard bulbs) costs.
The step is expected to save the nation at least 49 megawatts, a considerable quantity of power especially at a time when the nation’s demand is almost overtaking the supply.
The exercise comes at a time when the nation is facing serious power shortage due to low rainfall that has starved hydro electricity dams of water.
KenGen stated earlier in the week that it has closed the 14 megawatt Masinga Dam because the water level has been declining at a stable rate because of low poor water supply over the previous two years.
The country is functioning on an electricity reserve margin of 3.5 per cent against the recommended minimum of 15 per cent, the Kenya Power and Lighting Company reported.
Prime Minister Raila Odinga also stated that the government will begin offering interest-free loans for investors willing to set up local production of energy saving bulbs, solar water heaters and other energy saving devices.
The other incentive will be in the form of the Green Energy Facility that will be created to offer long term loans to farmers and business to install solar, biogas and other renewable energy equipment.
Mr Odinga announced that members of the task force on Development of Green Energy have started talks with several banks to enable the loan facility to be operational by mid August.
“A plan for financing geothermal and wind energy will be discussed when the task force meets in September,” announced the Prime Minister.
Energy conservation is the practice of decreasing the quantity of energy used. It may be achieved through efficient energy use, in which case energy use is decreased while achieving a similar outcome, or by reduced consumption of energy services. Energy conservation may result in increase of financial capital, environmental value, national security, personal security, and human comfort. Individuals and organizations that are direct consumers of energy may want to conserve energy in order to reduce energy costs and promote economic security. Industrial and commercial users may want to increase efficiency and thus maximize profit.
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Now this is interesting. First it is hard for me to believe that 49MW will make such a large difference. But it is wonderful to hear that simply by getting the country to switch to these lower energy bulbs they can keep from having to install new capacity. Maybe this will be what Kenya needs to become more sustainable.