The project will strengthen the capacity of the Government of Chile, raise awareness among consumers and interest of lighting industry key players about efficient lighting technologies. The project will speed up the transfer of low-carbon, high efficiency technologies for the lighting sector. This will be translated into comprehensive national policy and regulatory frameworks and create the necessary conditions for technology transfer benefiting Chile.

The overall objective of the proposed project is to accelerate the transition to energy efficient lighting technologies in Chile through the development of a national efficient lighting policy and practical interventions that ensure success of the transition, thereby reducing GHG emissions, mitigating climate change and increasing substantive resources for the development of Chile. The project consists of four major components:

Component 1: Strengthening MVE capacities to ensure an effective transition to efficient lighting

The success of a transition strategy depends on a well-functioning system of monitoring, control, and testing facilities to ensure enforcement and full compliance with MEPS. International experience indicates that unless effective market surveillance systems are established and enforced, substandard products continue to enter national markets, reducing energy and financial savings and thus spoil the market for high performance products.  Poor quality products disappoint users and lead to complaints about the transition to efficient lighting. MVE activities include:  continuous assessment of the process to verify product efficiency; validating declarations of conformance; and, enforcing actions against suppliers or retailers of non-compliant products.

This project component will develop or strengthen the operational elements that will guarantee compliance with lighting MEPS. If necessary, lighting test facilities will be developed according to the specific needs and situation in Chile. Any MVE scheme will comply with Chile’s legal system and with the framework of Component 1 (above).

To enhance the MVE capacity in Chile, the Project will facilitate sharing of information and skills between neighboring or similar countries. The project will encourage regional cooperation and harmonization to strengthen MVE schemes and to discourage entry of poor-performance products.

The Project will also develop Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) actions to evaluate the effects of the transition to efficient lighting in Chile in terms of reduced electricity consumption and carbon emissions. Actions may include checking and verifying the original baseline data and comparing it with independently published data; developing a model and sampling protocol for verification; and implementation of periodic, spot measurement tests in selected areas in order to assess the progress in the transition to efficient lighting brought by the Project. Longevity of use of installed lighting products in the field is a major concern for any energy efficiency lighting program. This activity will consider and evaluate existing Clean Development Mechanism protocols and any other MRV best practices.

Key actors include governmental authorities in change of market control and customs, such as the Superintendencia de Electricidad y Combustibles in close coordination with the Ministry of Energy. This component will be directly supported and co-financed by the National Lighting Test Center (Beijing) and its joint collaboration with UNEP, the Global Efficient Lighting Center, also located in Beijing.

Expected outputs:

1.1.1 Implementation of legal and administrative processes to improve compliance with national standards

1.1.2 Technical training and support to government authorities and customs administrations

1.1.3 Strengthening of national laboratories to verify compliance with standards

1.1.4 Monitoring, Reporting and Verification actions to assess progress in the transition to efficient lighting

Component 2: Implementing environmentally sound management for lighting products

Concerns over the mercury content of CFLs with regard to health and the environment may be overstated in the media, but are nonetheless widespread. These concerns are an obstacle to the use of CFLs. To reduce this barrier and to address public concerns, en.lighten’s global task force experts recommend that: the doses of mercury in lamps be reduced to the maximum allowable content in line with international best practice; and, countries adopt environmentally sound management systems to ensure that  mercury and electronic waste is not released into the environment. This advice is consistent with global initiatives such as the “Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal,” and the “Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee” for the development of a legally binding agreement on mercury and other related regional agreements.

This component includes the implementation of an operational framework to establish a collection scheme, recycling facilities and/or sound disposal systems, as appropriate, to ensure the sustainable end of life treatment of spent lamps. Actions will conform to the national legal waste management framework for efficient lighting products developed under Component 1 (above). The  system will be adapted to the conditions of Chile to ensure effectiveness.

The project and its private sector partners will coordinate activities among countries within the region and with other organizations to ensure conformance with the Basel Convention. The system will collect and recycle magnetic ballasts that may contain polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and, CFLs and other mercury-added lamps (linear fluorescent and mercury vapor) that presently could be disposed of in an environmentally unsound manner.

These activities will be implemented in close partnership with private sector organizations (lamp manufacturers, recycling companies, importers, distributors and retailers) as well as the Basel Convention Regional Centers. These activities will be co-financed by private sector organizations. 

Expected outputs:

2.1.1 Implementation of a national framework on environmentally sound lamp waste management;

2.1.2 Training for governmental authorities, retailers and collection bodies;

2.1.3 Awareness raising and communication campaigns to promote collection and recycling of spent lamps;

2.1.4 Implementation of a national waste management system for spent lamps, including facilitating the process to set up facilities and international coordination for the environmentally sound export/import of lamp waste; and

2.1.5 Development of systems and marketing campaigns providing incentives associated with the recovery of mercury-added lamps.

Component 3: Lighting innovation – accelerating the use of solid state lighting and controls

Solid state lighting and controls used throughout Chile could significantly reduce electricity consumption and related GHG emissions. Energy consumption (watt-hours) for lighting can be reduced by deploying technologies that require lower input power (watts); and, by reducing unnecessary use (hours) through automatic controls or changes in user behavior.

The en.lighten initiative Partner Countries, including Chile, express a strong interest in demonstrating, evaluating and deploying light emitting diodes (LEDs), a solid-state lighting technology that meets or exceeds the efficiency of CFLs and incandescent lamps. LEDs for general illumination applications are available in developed markets, but higher initial costs and unfamiliarity among users are two of the common barriers to their deployment in developing countries. Nonetheless, many developing country governments note that LED lamps do not contain mercury and therefore may be an alternative to mercury-added lamps. The alternative option of using LED lamps is often raised by countries that experience challenges establishing a programmed for the collection, recycling and treatment of mercury-added lamps.

Lighting controls and the education of lighting users so that they can reduce wasted lighting energy also offer significant energy efficiency benefits. However, they are not widely applied in developing countries due to unfamiliarity with the technology and its benefits, limited understanding of how to use controls in lighting systems, and a lack of appropriate products for developing country conditions.

Through this project Chile will promote the use of LEDs and controls. Through stakeholder consultations, the project will develop a menu of market-pull activities including:

·         Training and information about LEDs and controls and how they are best applied in each sector (domestic, commercial/industrial and outdoor lighting), drawing upon international best practices, case studies and published evaluations;

·         Demonstrations and evaluations of LEDs and lighting controls, including case studies of financial models for offsetting the higher initial first cost of high efficiency products (such as bulk procurement discounts, leasing schemes, micro-financing, energy service company financing, low-cost loans for pre-qualified products and installation services, and other strategies proven to work in developing countries);

·         Best practice technical advice for LED and lighting controls procurement, such as specification development and product performance evaluation methods;

·         Development of quality specifications and/or MEPS for LED lamps and lighting controls to protect local markets and consumers from inferior products at lower price points;

·         Technical advice and training via the en.lighten expert network for laboratories that intend to be qualified to test and evaluate the performance of LED lamps and lighting control products; and,

·         If requested by industry or economic development authorities, technical consultations will be arranged by en.lighten for manufacturers or assemblers of lighting products, so that they can learn about and potentially produce LED lamps and controls.

Key actors include governmental authorities such as the Ministry of Energy, utilities part of the Asociación Gremial de Empresas Eléctricas and private sector companies.  

Expected outputs:

3.1.1 Enhancement of the National Efficient Lighting Strategy with more stringent MEPS  to  accelerate demand for advanced lighting technologies and systems.

3.1.2 Supporting policies to increase user acceptance and demand for higher efficiency lighting products and systems.

3.1.3MVE scheme to assure high quality products and to secure the expected energy and GHG emission benefits.

3.1.4 Implementation of a local demonstration programme to introduce and evaluate LEDs and lighting controls among selected tiers of society.