Zambia starts distributing millions of energy saving bulbs

Zambia's power utility has commenced a countrywide distribution of energy-saving bulbs in an effort aimed at mitigating a power deficit the southern African nation was currently facing, a senior official told Xinhua on Monday.

Henry Kapata, Zesco Limited spokesperson said in an interview that the company has commenced the distribution of the first 1 million energy-saving bulbs in Lusaka, the country's capital, which will later be rolled out to other parts of the country.

The company intends to import another 1 million energy-saving bulbs to be rolled out to other parts of the country in order to help the country conserve energy.

The company has about 2.9 million infrastructures connected to its power system.

The 1 million bulbs, he said, will help save 50 megawatts of electricity, a move that will go a long way in mitigating the power deficit the country was facing.

According to him, ordinary bulbs are inefficient as they only use about 10 percent of the energy for lighting while 90 percent was wasted as heat.

"Our idea is that we want the issue of using ordinary bulbs to be completely done away with. Actually, we intend to propose to the government so that it bans the importation of ordinary bulbs," he said.

The official said most countries in southern Africa were using energy-saving bulbs as a way of mitigating power shortages.

The measure, he said, was a medium to long-term initiative to save energy and contribute to the mitigation of power deficit in the country.

Zambia is currently facing a 560 megawatts power deficit due to low water levels in its reservoirs following poor rains, a move that has forced the country's power utility to ration power.

The government has embarked on various initiatives to deal with the power deficit such as encouraging projects in alternative energy sources such as solar and thermal projects. Endit