National LED campaign launch today |22 April 2017

The GOS-UNDP-GEF Resource Efficiency Project in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change, the Seychelles Energy Commission and the Public Utilities Corporation, will officially launch the National LED campaign in a small ceremony, which will take place today at the STC Hypermarket, commencing at 9.30am.

The event will be attended by the Minister for Environment, Energy and Climate Change, Didier Dogley, who will officially launch the campaign in the presence of representatives of the various key partners and other stakeholders, including the Ministry of Finance, Trade and Economic Planning and the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development.

LED stands for ‘Light-emitting Diode’ – the most efficient light bulb for domestic use. The national campaign is being launched in support of the government’s energy objectives, one of which is to reduce the country’s energy consumption through the adoption of energy efficient technologies. The aim of the campaign is to promote the widespread use of more energy efficient light technologies to replace the use of energy inefficient light bulbs, particularly the traditional incandescent light bulbs.

The launch of the campaign coincides with the annual Earth Day Event, which this year is taking place under the theme ‘Environmental and Climate Literacy’.

The launch ceremony will be followed by a bulb exchange activity. Members of the public are invited to bring two incandescent light bulbs, together with their most recent utility bill. The bill will be stamped and the two incandescent bulbs will be exchanged for two LED light bulbs.

The activity will also be a learning platform, where the public can learn more about energy efficiency and the benefits of LED light bulbs.

LED light bulbs are one of the world’s most efficient and reliable lighting technologies with the potential for consumers to save on their energy consumption, thus saving money as well as reducing their carbon footprint. Compared to the traditional incandescent light bulbs, LED lights – especially the Energy Star Rated products - use 90 percent less energy to produce the same amount of light. They also last longer, typically around 20,000 hours compared to 1,000 hours for an incandescent bulb.

The LED bulb exchange activity will be repeated, and will be extended to the islands of Praslin and La Digue, in the coming months.