Electronic ballasts on the Thai horizon
Electronic ballasts on the Thai horizon
Guest writer Peter du Pont describes how DSM programmes and local manufactures could pave the way for efficient ballasts in Thailand.
In developing countries, the cost of efficient technologies is often prohibitively high. In Thailand, previous efforts by several manufacturers to introduce efficient electronic ballasts for fluorescent lighting have failed because the market was not ready to pay about twelve-times as much (average ballast-cost per tube) for electronic ballasts imported from Singapore or Europe compared to domestic standard electromagnetic units. (Part of the problem is an import duty of 35% that is levied together with a 7% VAT surcharge.) However, local manufacturers could reduce the cost of electronic ballasts to as little as five-times that of the standard ballasts.
The production and sale of fluorescent lighting equipment in Thailand increased at an average annual rate of 25% from 1988 to 1990. In 1990, 37 million tubes and 10-12 million ballasts were manufactured in Thailand.
Currently, almost all ballasts sold in Thailand are electromagnetic, low-power-factor units, manufactured more or less manually by small firms in the Bangkok region. Standard single-tube 40W electromagnetic ballasts retail for about 40 baht (US$ 1,60) and have a low power factor (<0,5) and high losses (about 10 watts). Standard ballast losses can be reduced to 5 watts by upgrading the design and the materials used in ballast manufacture. For example, thicker strands of high-grade copper can be used, along with additional resin to reduce heat losses.
High-power-factor electromagnetic ballasts are produced locally for about 160 baht (US$ 6,4), but the market share is extremely small. Current practice in the design of new buildings is to install capacitors in parallel with low-power-factor ballasts, the combined cost being about 130 baht. Low-power-factor, but low-loss (5W), ballasts could be produced domestically for about 80-90 baht (US$ 3,50).
Meanwhile, the economic barriers to the entry of electronic ballasts remain formidable. The demand side management plan proposed by the Thai utilities and approved by the Thai government in November 1991 may speed up the entry of electronic ballasts, however. The five-year DSM plan has a budget of US$ 183 million and aims to reduce peak demand by 225 megawatts. The plan outlines lighting programs for new and existing commercial buildings.
It appears that the market will not begin to move until the ballasts are manufactured domestically. Imported electronic ballasts (twin-tube type) retail for about 1000 baht (US$ 40). Single-tube electronic ballasts could be produced and sold in Thailand for about 250-400 baht (US$ 10-16) and twin-tube ballasts for about 350-600 baht (US$ 14-24).
Manufacturers we have interviewed are preparing to produce electronic ballasts. How quickly manufacturers move may well depend on their confidence that the utility DSM program will help to create a market for their products.
Peter du Pont is Project Manager at the Asia Office in Bangkok of the Washington D.C. based International Institute for Energy Conservation (IIEC). The Institute also has an office in Santiago, Chile.
(See also:Moving the Thai Market: Promise and Perils, IAEEL3/93)
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