Accra, March 31, GNA - Mr John Abdulai Jinapor, the Deputy Minister of Power, has said government would intensify its public awareness creation efforts on energy conservation among consumers.

He said government was prepared to partner Philips and other companies to replace the compact fluorescent lights with the LED bulbs.

Mr Jinapor was speaking at the launch of the Philips EcoBright LEDbulb in Accra.

The LEDbulb delivers high quality light that is free of infra-red, meaning no heat is radiated and fabrics and other items under this light would not fade.

He described the cost savings achieved by switching almost 6 million government incandescent bulbs to compact fluorescent lights as very laudable saying the switch has the potential to reduce energy consumption by 50 percent from the current compact fluorescent bulbs’ usage.

“With these benefits it has come to light and it is quite obvious that we have to invest in energy savings, especially with lighting, as lighting is one of the primary sources of energy for the country," he said.

“This innovative new bulb is an asset in implementing our policies designed to promote the efficient use of energy,” Mr Jinapor said.

The Minister said government was always happy to support the various initiatives Philips Lighting has undertaken in Ghana to improve the public’s access to energy efficiency.

Mr Felix Darko, General Manager, Philips Export BV, said Philips would partner with the Electricity Company of Ghana to select a number of their customers and change all the bulbs in their homes.

“They will benefit from a potential electricity usage reduction of up to 85 per cent,” he said.

He said the product would bring relief to consumers seeking to reduce their energy use and ultimately would cut down on their electricity costs.

The General Manager said consumers would also make further savings by not replacing these bulbs as regularly as standard bulbs.

Philips also used the opportunity of the Bike Challenge to educate consumers about the importance of energy efficiency and introduce them to the new Philips EcoBright LEDbulb.

The Bike Challenge consisted of a light bulb powered by pedalling a stationary bike to demonstrate the amount of energy saved by switching to LED.

GNA