Zimbabwe saves 70MW in LED bulbs switch

ZIMBABWE has successfully phased out incandescent light bulbs in favour of energy-efficient LED alternatives, resulting in national power savings of approximately 70 megawatts.

This was revealed by Mr Victor Sibanda, a Research and Efficiency Engineer with the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA), who was speaking as a panelist at the Energy Efficiency for Sustainable Livelihoods in Africa (EELA) session during the ongoing SADC Sustainable Energy Week in Victoria Falls on Tuesday.

An incandescent light bulb is a traditional electric light source that produces warm, yellowish light by heating a thin, coiled tungsten filament until it glows (incandescence).

Addressing delegates, Mr Sibanda detailed the journey of the transition, which began as a regulatory push but encountered initial resistance from a public accustomed to traditional lighting.

“We had initial challenges and mainly because it was a new phenomenon trying to take people away from the bulbs which they were used to for all their lives and trying to move into new technology. So it was a bit of a struggle for us, but then at the end of the day, as a country, we managed to reach around 99.9 percent in terms of bulbs. We no longer have incandescent bulbs in Zimbabwe,” he said.

Despite the risk of backsliding due to influxes from neighbouring countries where the transition has not been enforced, Zimbabwe managed to hold the line.

“The collateral damage which has been done and caused by other neighboring countries who haven’t implemented this, I think Zimbabwe managed to curb that, and we managed to save close to about 70 megawatts of power by just doing away with incandescent bulbs and moving to efficient LED bulbs,” Mr Sibanda revealed.

He said the regulatory shift had a positive knock-on effect on local industry, spurring new business ventures.

“In search, this has led to creation also of local industry. Four companies or start-ups were created out of these regulations and out of phasing out incandescent bulbs, which is good for our industry,” he said.

However, Mr Sibanda warned that despite the success, energy efficiency across the broader economy is being hampered by a severe lack of awareness, which he described as the root of all other barriers.

“Then to the issue of barriers, our experience, it borders much on information and awareness. So we find there is a lot of limited information and awareness. It’s a new thing altogether, where there is limited information and awareness across all sectors and across all demographics,” he said.

He noted that efficiency is often misunderstood and treated as an afterthought, particularly in comparison to renewable energy.

“It appears also as the lost cousin of renewable energy. Everyone else speaks about renewable energy, and understands renewable energy, and then they invest a lot in renewable energy but not understanding that they could have a better investment with better returns had they gone for the first fuel, which is energy efficient,” he said.

He further highlighted a disconnect between technical experts and financial institutions.
“You find because of that lack of information and awareness, it gives birth to all the other barriers you can identify, be it financial, because those who are supposed to be funding, they don’t understand because it’s something which is virtual,” he said.

He called for a paradigm shift in communication.

“There is need of communication and to communicate energy efficiency not as a technical aspect of energy, but as a competitive advantage to our businesses and industry and also as something which brings dignity to our people because with energy efficiency, we are improving on access and more of our people will have the same resource shared across all the divide.”