EU supports Ukraine’s energy front – the light bulb exchange programme will go ahead with a new logistical solution

Since the All-Ukrainian free incandescent lamp exchange programme was kicked off by the Government of Ukraine and the European Union on January 31, 2023, more than 3 million Ukrainians have benefitted from the opportunity to replace outdated power-hungry bulbs with energy-saving ones. By signing-up in the DIIA Application (23%) and through open exchange (77%), they have now received more than 14 million LED bulbs. Exchange is offered through Ukrposhta offices across 23,000 municipalities, including the de-occupied territories and front-line regions of Ukraine.

On busiest days, the number of exchanges recorded across Ukrposhta offices reached 550,000. This is the way how Ukrainians joined in support of Ukraine’s energy front and contributed to balanced power grid performance in the difficult wintertime under Russian attacks on the country’s critical infrastructure facilities. Thanks to the efforts of the EU, Ukraine and Ukrainians, this enabled them to prevent the aggressor’s intents to weaponise darkness and cold and, thus, avoid blackouts.

As the light bulb exchange goes on, as of March 22, a total of 11 million more bulbs are still available in all municipalities and can save enough energy to power about 2.2 million homes.

Considering demand behaviour and to make sure light bulbs continue to be available for exchange, from March 22, the number of Ukrposhta offices and, accordingly, municipalities where exchange is possible will be gradually reduced. In the most remote villages that joined the programme recently, the exchange will be continued until the end of April. And from May 1, it will be possible to exchange old incandescent lamps against LEDs in 23 Ukrposhta locations in cities with a millions-plus population and central cities of the regions, where both the demand and urge remain highest. For instance, the number of bulbs exchanged in Kyiv region is rapidly verging towards 2 million, Dnipropetrovsk region – 1.4 million, Lviv region – 1.1 million, Kharkiv region – 860 thousand, Odesa region – 810 thousand, Vinnytsia region – 730 thousand, and Cherkassy – 510 thousand.

Ukrainians willing to pre-order bulbs should check whether their local Ukrposhta office is on the availability list in the DIIA Application. If a post office is on the list, people from those cities, towns, and villages that have the dedicated Ukrposhta offices will be able to register, apply, and exchange light bulbs once they arrive at that particular location. To exchange up to 5 old-style bulbs with any lamp base against the same number of LED light bulbs, one needs to have a passport, tax number and the old bulbs themselves. To check the dedicated post offices available for light bulb exchange, one can go to the DIIA Application or the News page on Ukrposhta’s website.

For those who have already ordered the bulbs through DIIA, they will be delivered to any Ukrposhta office across the country until March 28. Bulbs can also be picked up without prior order placement, however, only if they are available.

By replacing outdated light bulbs with energy-saving ones, each family can reduce their power consumption eightfold, while the overall savings from 14 million exchanged bulbs will roughly equal to the output of Kyiv’s TPP 5.

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.

To learn more about the light bulb exchange programme, please visit https://eu4ukraine.eu/en/together-we-bring-light-en

Pressrelease