Supplying free energy-saving bulbs is a bright idea

By MUNGAI KIHANYA

The Sunday Nation

Nairobi,

12 July 2009

One of the strategies proposed to tackle the impending electricity crisis is for the government to supply one million energy-saving bulbs to domestic consumers. The total cost of this plan is estimated at about Sh200 million; that is, about Sh200 per bulb.

Now that sounds like a lot of light bulbs; but not so when you consider that there are about one million domestic consumers connected to the national electric grid. Thus everybody will get just one bulb! The next obvious question then is: will one bulb really make any meaningful difference?

The answer is yes and no! Yes: One million energy-saving bulbs will have a significant effect in reducing the national power demand. No: Installing one energy-saving bulb will not make any meaning difference to your monthly bill.

Let us look at the bill first. An ordinary 60-watt bulb, for example, can be replaced with a 15W compact fluorescent lamp and the room will remain equally bright. This will save 35W of power.

Suppose this bulb is switched on from 7pm to 10pm every night – a total of three hours. This works to 90 hours per month. Therefore, the total energy saved is 35W multiplied by 90h, equals 3,150watt-hours, or 3.15kilo-watt-hours (kWh).

The current price of electricity is about Sh14 per kWh – all adjustments, taxes and levies included. Thus the monthly saving gained by re-placing one bulb is only Sh44 – not enough to buy a packet of milk and a loaf of bread!

On a national scale, however, the combined saving of one million fluorescent bulbs will be 35 million watts, in other words, 35 mega-watts (MW). This is slightly less than the 40MW maximum out put of the Masinga power station (which was shut down last week, by the way).

Clearly, then, if we all changed just one of our 60W bulbs to a 15W energy saver, we can easily compensate for the lost power generation from Masinga! What about the cost? Isn’t Sh200 million too much? Again, I will say yes and no!

Yes, it is too much because Sh200 is the retail price of a fluorescent bulb. If the government is going to purchase one million pieces, then it can surely get a much better price. But no, because this is less than the cost of building a 35MW power station.

The most recent major power station constructed in Kenya was the one at Mumias Sugar Company. It is a 34MW plant (how convenient for our comparison!) and it cost US$54 million. That’s about Sh4.3 billion at the current exchange rates.

There is additional advantage: one million bulbs can be purchased and distributed in two months. Putting up a power station takes years. So, all things considered, supplying free energy-saving lamps is a bright idea!

Finally, I’d like to send out a warning: every time there is an energy crisis, be it in the electricity or in the petroleum sector, many readers send me designs of perpetual motion machines. These are machines alleged to run indefinitely without ever needing fuel or energy injection. Now, if you have such a design, please don’t send it to me. Build the contraption and run it for three months. Then get in touch and I will come and observe it for another three months, non-stop!