Kolkata Municipal Corporation(KMC)undertook a pilot project in 2010 by replacing 276 street lights with LEDs.It saved 54kw energy resulting into savings of Rs 11 lakh in electricity bills.Now,KMC is considering replacing all its 180,000 streetlights that could save about 35,000 kw that could result into savings of Rs 75 crore annually.The project is expected to be undertaken over the next 12 years.
Similarly,Bhatinda government installed 5,500 LED pieces for street lighting that was executed by Philips Electronics India.With an average saving of Rs 1,500 for each luminaire per year,Bhatinda government could save about Rs 80 crore per annum.
India's LED street lighting,estimated to be about$55 million in 2011,is projected to grow at more than 47%annually,according to a study by Frost&Sullivan.The entire LED lighting market is expected to grow to$478.62 million by 2015.
Lured by the huge opportunity untapped,lighting companies,such as Dutch major Philips Electronics,US-based Bridgelux,GE,home-grown NTL Electronics,are trying to woo the state governments and municipalities to convert conventional street lighting to LEDs.
However,it may not be easy to convince the governments as cost of implementation is much higher than the conventional lighting,as luminaries are expensive,with a price range of Rs 3,750 to Rs 50,000 each.
Companies,thus,are banking on the energy savings and environment concerns,including minimum emission of carbon di-oxide and no radiated heat,to bag government lighting projects.
As William D Watkins,chief executive officer of Bridgelux told The Business Standard,by replacing the entire street lighting to LEDs,India could establish three sizeable power plants that could produce the entire electricity requirement of 16,000 villages.
However,companies like Bridgelux pegs India's total street lighting at around Rs 4,000 crore."Of this,we target about 10%of the pie,"said Watkins.Bridgelux has already completed street lighting projects in the US.
The ownership structure of India's street lighting is very complex,and there are many stakeholders in each city."It would take time to negotiate with multiple partners,"said Watkins.However,the company is expecting to execute its first project in one of the south Indian states within the next three months,he added.
Philips Electronics has already done a few projects with Kolkata Municipal Corporation,Pune Municipal Corporation,Bhatinda Development Authority,Amritsar Municipal Corporation,Pune-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation,Haldia Development Authority."We are in negotiation with few more projects with the existing clients and also new government agencies and municipalities for future projects,"said Indranil Goswami,head(lighting application services),Philips Lighting India,that claims 30%market share in India's lighting space.
According to Bridgelux,replacing a typical 250 watt streetlight with LED can save more than 50%of energy consumer consumed by the conventional lightings like GSL.While a 5-watt LED can replace an 18 watt CFL.
Home-grown NTL Electronics is also in talks with different government agencies for replacement of existing streetlights with LEDs,said Arun Gupta,global CEO,NTL Lemnis.
The payback time for a LED is pegged at three years,while it comes with a five-year warranty and the maintenance cost is very low as no maintenance is required during the first 5-6 years.However,companies need to localize products to cope up with Indian climate,said Watkins.
Bridgelux plans to invest about$50 million over the next two years in India,and hopes to break-even within the next two years."We are looking for technology,marketing and distribution partners in India.But,nothing has been finalised yet.These could be joint ventures or strategic arrangements,"he added.
According to a recent study,cities account for about 70%of global energy consumption,of which 15%of energy consumed is attributed to street lighting.
