Uttar Pradesh to subsidise CFLs for consumers

LUCKNOW - The Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation (UPPCL) will subsidise energy efficient CFLs for its consumers as a part of its drive to bring down carbon emissions and reduce power consumption in the state.

“To begin with, as many as 300,000 CFLs will be distributed to consumers in Varanasi from the first week of July at a nominal price of Rs.12 in exchange for ordinary bulbs,” UPCL chairman Navneet Sehgal told reporters here Sunday.

“A maximum four CFLs of equivalent luminosity but lower wattage will be provided to a consumer. On the one hand, it would reduce the electricity bills of consumers and on the other, overall power consumption will be reduced.

“This will not only result in lesser use of incandescent lamps with higher carbon emissions but will also help in bringing down the power demand, leading to reduced coal burning and so carbon emissions into the environment will also be reduced drastically,” Sehgal explained.

The programme is being undertaken with the help of the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC).

“The discarding of incandescent lamps and their replacement by CFLs will generate 18,365 Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) per annum, which amounts to removal of huge quantities of carbon from the atmosphere,” he said.

Britain’s EDF Trading will purchase the CERs, Sehgal said.

Terming the new scheme as “the first step in this direction”, he said that the UPPCL has around 40 such projects in the pipeline to cover the entire state.

“Once implemented, these projects will enable saving of 1,080 MW of peak demand in the state alongwith cutting of the carbon emissions to the tune of 10 lakh CERs,” he added.

The UPPCL will not incur any cost in the implementation and instead will get 2.5 percent of carbon credits earned as a consequence of the project’s implementation. With an estimated cost of Rs 6.crore, the Varanasi project is planned to be completed by the end of September.

As per a cost and efficiency analysis, carried out by UPPCL, a 100 watt incandescent bulb costs Rs.15 and has a maximum lifespan of 1,000 hours and consumes power worth Rs.400 approximately in its lifetime, whereas a 20 watt CFL, though costing around Rs.125, has an average life of 6,000-10,000 hours and also consumes much less power.