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Although it is common knowledge that LED lighting saves energy, it has not yet been widely embraced in the Netherlands. For example, only 20 percent of the main road network and about half of the office buildings in the Netherlands are still equipped with LED lighting.
Rising energy costs
The initiative came about because Dutch manufacturers and importers of light sources and luminaires noted that the energy transition must be accelerated and the problems causing grid congestion must be solved. One way to do this is to replace conventional lighting, such as fluorescent lighting and incandescent bulbs, with LED lighting. Although much of this lighting may now not be sold, it is still used in many buildings until the end of its useful life. As a result, the impact of the transition to LED is taking too long to materialize.
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The organizations have two goals with the platform "With LED kan het". The first is to save more energy in the Netherlands. This will promote the energy transition, which is much needed, and also save money in the wallet. The rising energy costs of the past year only further emphasize the need for this initiative. Second, saving energy will ensure that less energy needs to be generated or purchased in the Netherlands. An initial, conservative estimate by the parties shows that switching en masse to LED lighting could yield energy savings of 50 to 80 percent. This is equivalent to the yield of one nuclear power plant in the Netherlands and can therefore make a positive contribution to the environment.
Anne-Jaap Deinum, director at Fedet, talks about this initiative: "We assume that we can save more energy throughout the Netherlands with this initiative. Although many people know that switching to LED lighting is an important part of this, this step is still too little considered. Despite the fact that the investment pays off quickly, with current rates already within two years. There are still plenty of steps to take in business and government, among others. The government should be the shining example in this matter, but half of government buildings currently do not even have energy label C or higher. While this has been mandated since Jan. 1. In addition, I hope that there will again be government subsidies and schemes to encourage the switch to LED. After all, according to our calculations, this can save 6.5 terraWatts of energy annually. That is equivalent to some 13 billion washes, 240 billion phone charges or 6.8 million air conditioners used for forty days on an annual basis. An incredible savings potential that we, and hopefully the rest of the Netherlands, are working hard to achieve."
