The Lagos State Government has recommended that households, industries and commercial buildings take up the retrofitting initiative of converting mercury-based fluorescent lamps and bulbs to Light Emitting Diode (LED) bulbs for reduced exposure to mercury and lower energy consumption.
Permanent Secretary Ministry of Health, Dr. Olusegun Ogboye, gave the advice at a public-private partnership pilot LED Lighting Retrofit Project of the Lagos State Government’s Folarin Coker Staff Clinic. The private partner in the project is Sustainable Research and Action for Environmental Development (SRADeV Nigeria), operating under the aegis of Clean Lighting Coalition (CLiC).
He said that the State Government supported the campaign by transitioning to clean lighting usage and phasing out mercury-based bulbs.
Ogboye, represented by the Director, Medical Administration, Training and Programmes in the Ministry, Dr. Olufunmilayo Shokunbi, declared ed that the retrofitting of over 600 mercury-based compact fluorescent lamps in the staff clinic to 452 LEDs bulbs has achieved electricity tariff savings of 50% and enhanced illumination quality.
He said: “The retrofit initiative which is basically “transition to LED” is a welcome initiative for the State as it relates to the second pillar of the T.H.E.M.E.S developmental agenda and is also aimed at eliminating toxic mercury in lighting through the Minamata Convention on Mercury”.
Ogboye said the benefits of the project include improved employee productivity, reduced maintenance costs, less exposure of staff and patients to mercury as well as conformity with environmental standards stipulated by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Nigeria’s National Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Policy (NREEEP) to ensure a cleaner and healthier environment.
Earlier in his address, the Executive Director, STRADeV, Dr. Leslie Adogame, stated that STRADeV, through the Clean Lighting Coalition, kicked off the Campaign for energy efficiency and elimination of mercury-laden lamps in Nigeria by implementing the Country-Lighting Market Research.
He explained that the research gathered information to facilitate dialogue with policymakers towards support of the clean lighting transition, pointing out that the biggest advantage of LED lighting is the opportunity for higher quality lighting experience in offices and homes.
Dr. Adogame affirmed that retrofitting is simply replacing a fluorescent bulb with a LED or converting the existing lighting fixtures in a building to LED, noting that inherent benefits of replacing fluorescent technology with LED include 50% lower lighting electricity bills, lower re-lamping and reducing maintenance costs.
He commended the Lagos State Government for pioneering the clean lighting retrofit initiative in Nigeria.
Speaking in the same vein, the Campaign Lead, Clean Lighting Coalition (CLiC), Mrs. Rachel Kamande, said that the Coalition launched the clean lighting market transformation pilot to demonstrate that large buildings can easily and cost-effectively replace the outdated toxic lighting with energy-efficient LEDs within a very short period of time.
Mrs. Kamande explained further that retrofit initiatives in hospitals promote the link to sustainable healthcare energy, savings, elimination of toxic substances and climate protection, adding that the observations from the pilot would be used to enhance the transition process and establish minimum performance standards.
