Saving even more power and strengthening Ukraine’s energy security: a new phase of the EU-Ukraine exchange programme for LED bulbs kicks off

18 August marked the beginning of the next phase of the All-Ukrainian programme on exchanging incandescent light bulbs against energy-saving LED bulbs run by the Ukrainian Government and the European Union. Its goal is to enable the replacement of 50 million old energy-intensive bulbs with modern LEDs to strengthen Ukraine's energy security.

The programme was launched on 30 January 2023, and since then more than 4 million Ukrainians have benefitted from the opportunity to receive LED bulbs in exchange against their old incandescent ones. As of June, the exchange has been made available to legal entities in the healthcare and education sectors at all levels. Overall, over 20 million light bulbs have been exchanged. This allows to save significant volumes of electricity and reduce pressure on the Ukrainian energy system, which has been a target of Russia’s attack.

The Ukrainian government has now enabled the free exchange of power-hungry incandescent bulbs for new categories of legal entity consumers, namely:

• cultural institutions (of municipal and state ownership)
• social welfare institutions and specialised support services for individuals who have suffered from domestic and gender-based violence (of municipal and state ownership)
• physical culture and sports facilities (of municipal ownership)
• entities that deliver housing management services or apartment building co-owners associations.

Light bulb exchange rationale

• 3 bulbs per 10 square metres of premises at social welfare institutions, reading rooms, book repositories, library and other archives, cultural institutions, housing management services and apartment building co-owners associations.
• 2 bulbs per 10 square metres of public areas at social welfare institutions, physical culture and sports facilities, housing management services and apartment building co-owners associations.

As in the previous phases, applications to exchange light bulbs shall be submitted through the Diia portal. How to apply?

• Log in to the Diia portal using the Certified Digital Signature of a legal entity.
• Check information about the legal entity.
• In the ‘Services’ section, select ‘Light Bulb Exchange’ and fill out the application form.
• Specify the area (square metres) in the Calculator to find out the limits and choose the number and types of light bulbs within the specified limits.
• Tick the box to give a consent to hand over the same number of incandescent light bulbs.
• Indicate the location of the organization.
• Check and confirm the details in the generated application.
• Sign the application with the legal entity's Certified Digital Signature.

Within a week after submitting the application, Ukrposhta representatives will contact the phone number specified in the application form and provide instructions on how to proceed.

Individuals, like before, can continue benefiting from the programme according to the current rules; the exchange through the Diia application is possible only in the central branches of Ukrposhta in 23 municipalities across the country – large cities with a million-plus population and regional centres.

For the exchange one needs to provide a passport, taxpayer ID and up to 5 incandescent bulbs.

“Four million Ukrainians have already joined the programme to exchange incandescent bulbs for energy-saving ones to help reduce power consumption. 20 million old light bulbs have already been replaced with LEDs. With the today's decision, we are increasing the number of consumers to benefit from the programme, because we have a goal to replace about 50 million bulbs in order to relieve pressure on the country's power grid”, said First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yuliya Svyrydenko.

“The European Union has supported Ukraine's call and immediately provided all possible assistance to the country's energy system. As the next autumn-winter period is approaching, we continue standing by Ukraine and mobilising the necessary assistance, equipped with last winter’s experience. It is important to anticipate as much as possible – this is why we invite you to continue benefitting from the LED bulb exchange programme. Every modern lightbulb instead of an old one means some relief for the energy system. This is heat and light in Ukrainian homes, schools, hospitals”, said Ambassador Matti Maasikas, Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine.

The light bulb exchange programme is supported by the European Union in response to President Zelenskyy’s call, and is implemented by the Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Digital Transformation and Ukrposhta across all the regions of Ukraine with the exception of the war zone and temporarily occupied territories. This EU-funded programme is part of the European Union's support for the Ukrainian energy front.