May 18 , 2015
News
Pakistanis spend $2.3 billion on lights annually: study
LAHORE: Pakistanis spent an estimated $2.3 billion a year on everything from candles, to kerosene lamps, to battery-powered torches.
They use this mix of technologies to light their homes and businesses to compensate for the intense power shortage in the country. The power shortfall has greatly upset the routine life of Pakistanis. It has also hampered economic development and job creation across the country. Recently, authorities are being established to handle this power shortage. Controlling the energy crisis is the top priority of government through different programmes to ease burden on national grid and help millions of people access lighting.
The Launch of the Lighting Pakistan Programme by IFC, a member of World Bank Group to may help provide safe, affordable, high quality lighting to more than 1.5 million Pakistanis by 2018. The programme works directly with light manufacturers supporting solar-powered products that meet the required Lighting Global standards. It also connects potential partners including microfinance institutions, and invests in consumer education to raise awareness about solar technology. This programme will help to increase awareness amongst the households about alternatives, including quality solar-powered lighting products.
Programme Manager of Lighting Pakistan, Liam Grealish on Sunday said that the programme aims to reach 1.5 million people and is part of IFC’s strategy to promote inclusive electrification in Pakistan. It is an important part of our broader approach of targeted interventions in power sector. The programme is also part of IFC’s wider strategy to reduce greenhouse emissions and boost clean energy projects. Besides launching the programme, the IFC has also conducted a ‘Pakistan Off-Grid Lighting Consumer Perceptions Study, which underscores the power challenge faced by Pakistanis. Based on interviews with over 6,000 Pakistani households, the report shows that most of them rely on an expensive and low-quality mix of battery powered torches, kerosene, and candles that do not meet their lighting needs and burn a hole in their pockets.
Through a combination of market research and household surveys, the study explores the potential of the solar-powered option. Right now, only about 4 per cent of Pakistani households tap into solar power, as there are several barriers to its widespread adoption. These include a lack of consumer awareness, limited supply chains, and a shortage of consumer financing (which is a significant barrier, considering the relatively high up-front cost of some solar products). Most importantly, this study finds that there is a tremendous opportunity for industry players that can deliver high-quality, cost-effective products to consumers. The market is both massive and largely untapped, presenting an excellent opportunity for first-movers.
Enumerating the objectives, IFC’s Country Manager in Pakistan, Nadeem Siddiqui said that the study was conducted to provide insights into Pakistan lighting market for industry players and other stakeholders including policy makers, providers of consumer finance (such as banks and Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) as well as manufacturers of quality solar devices. He said the report also provides recommendations for industry players looking to enter Pakistan market and achieve scale. Based on the data, he said that the need for solar-energy-based home lighting systems in Pakistan is clear.
Nadeem Siddiqui added that the Lighting Pakistan will launch a broad consumer awareness campaign to develop confidence in the benefits of off-grid solar products, while showing consumers how to identify and buy quality-assured products. In this direction, he mentioned the Lighting Africa Programme, which was launched in September 2007 with the goal to light up homes and businesses of 250 million people by 2030. Since inception, the African market has seen 300 per cent growth with more than 7.7 million people across Africa enjoying clean, affordable, solar-powered lighting.
Nadeem Siddiqui said that the solar power is only used by less than 4 per cent of households in Pakistan and despite solar power’s relative affordability; the market is still in a nascent state. This represents a tremendous opportunity for development of solar lighting, with a projected market of over $1 billion. Given the low base of solar penetration in Pakistan as well as the high recurrent spending by under-served households, the solar power market is poised for strong growth. This growth in the market will be driven largely by two factors - increasing affordability, and the rapid strengthening of the value proposition through the development of innovative business models that meet the needs of Pakistani consumers.
The theoretical manufacturing cost (holding performance constant) has fallen almost 25 per cent since 2010 and is expected to tumble another 33 per cent by 2020. The estimates suggest that the median lantern in 2020 will exhibit twice the battery life and will light up to five times the brightness of solar products today. However, the quality-verified solar power market will not grow simply through cost reductions over time, but also requires development of strategies that are designed to overcome the barriers that hinder the growth of the solar power market.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk