The State government has banned on the use of incandescent bulbs in the offices of its departments, undertakings, boards, cooperative institutions, local bodies and organisations coming under its control.
The order was issued on Friday by Principal Secretary (Energy) P.W. C. Davidar.
At present, four crore incandescent bulbs (ICB) are being used by the government institutions. The order states that if these bulbs of 60 watt capacity are used for an hour, the consumption would be 24 lakh kilo watt hour (KWH) or 2,400 megawatt.
Assuming that the bulbs are replaced with four crore compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) of 14 watt, the consumption will be 5.6 KWH or 560 MW. [Energy experts say that to have the same effect of illumination, there is no need for CFLs to have the same capacity as that of ICB].
The order has pointed out that 1,840 MW can be saved.
An official of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) says shortly, the Board will settle a contract for the implementation of the Bachat Lamp Yojana (BYL). Initially, the scheme will be implemented in Cuddalore district.
As part of the scheme, domestic consumers will be supplied a maximum of four CFLs. As per an estimate, there are about four lakh domestic consumers in the district, of which 2.5 lakh consumers are likely to be covered, considering the level of penetration of CFLs in the district.
A sum of Rs.15 per lamp will have to be given by the consumers. A CFL may cost Rs.120 in the open market. All incandescent bulbs will be collected and later destroyed as prescribed by authorities.
