China's CE Lighting wins deal to supply fluorescent bulbs

MANILA, Philippines - Chinese firm CE Lighting Ltd. has bagged the contract for the supply of five million compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs to replace incandescent lamps in Metro Manila and other growth centers.

The Department of Energy (DOE) said CE Lighting bested seven other bidders – Cebu Oversea Hardware Co. Inc., Philips Electronics and Lighting Inc., China Automation and Control System Corp. and Hangzou Lin’an Sanlian Lighting, GE Lighting Philippines, and Siemens Inc for the deal.

Wexford International Sales Inc. and New CHP Industrial Corp. failed to comply with certain bidding requirements.

CE Lighting, a leading lighting firm in China, offered the lowest bid of P277.428 million.

The DOE said the delivery of the five million CFLs will be done through three deliveries from August to October.

The Chinese firm will deliver the CFLs in designated warehouses located within the franchise area of Manila Electric Co. in Metro Manila, CALABARZON and Bulacan.

 “Also to include the delivery the cities of Cebu, Davao and Cagayan de Oro within August 2009. Further, to maintain a warehouse in Metro Manila for the storing of the 10 percent allowance on replacement of damaged CFLs and retrieval of incandescent bulbs from the recipient,” the DOE said.

The replacement of CFLs is part of the DOE’s efforts under the Philippine Energy Efficiency Project that aims to provide direct economic benefits to the country by reducing energy demand and displacing imported fuel.

 “Lighting accounts for more than 50 percent of the evening peak load in the rural Philippines. The use of proven technology in efficient lighting can reduce this demand by 40 to 80 percent,” Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes said.

The DOE said the replacement of incandescent bulbs with CFLs  is expected to reap the following benefits: reduce peak demand by 450 megawatts, reduce oil imports by $120 million each year, generate clean development mechanism revenues of about $10 million for 2010-2012 and create an energy efficient market.

On top of the CFL replacements, the PEEP project also includes: government retrofit, public lighting retrofit, expansion of energy efficiency labeling, lamp waste facility, super ESCO (Energy Service Company), green building initiatives and communication, and social mobilization.

The PEEP project is partly funded by the Asian Development Bank  through a $31.1-million loan.