Bhubaneswar, Dec. 21: Extensive use of light emitting diodes (LED) bulbs in the state could save as much energy as the annual production of a thermal power plant.

Speaking at a seminar here on energy, environment and climate change, secretary of the bureau of energy efficiency Bhaskar Jyoti Sharma stressed on the importance of converting entirely to the LED.

According to the 2011 census, there are 96.6 lakh households in the state, of which 41.5 lakh are using conventional lights to illuminate their homes. If they switch over to LED, the state can save up to 660MW energy a year, he said.

If each household roughly saves Rs 876 a year, the cumulative saving would be to the tune of Rs 36.35 crore a year for the state's exchequer.

Besides, the expert said, energy saving would also help save the environment from the burden of 4,82,686 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide as most of the power generation was being done by the thermal power plants.

Sharma said LED was the technology of the future, and many cities and states were already using the technology successfully. He cited examples of Pondicherry and Vishakhapatnam to prove his point. While the annual power bill of Pondicherry has come down from Rs 9.8 crore to Rs 2.4 crore with the use of the LED, in case of the Vishakhapatnam Municipal Corporation, the spending is down to Rs 11 crore from Rs 38 crore.

New Delhi was also going to switch over to the LED from conventional street lights.

Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation has already started changing its conventional streetlights to the LED and targets to convert at least 2,000 street lights to the new technology by March next year.

At present, there are around 35,000 street lights in the city, and the civic body spends Rs 70 lakh to Rs 80 lakh a month to light up its streets. Once successful in Bhubaneswar, the LED bulbs may be tried in other cities of the state.

Chairman of the Quality Council of India (Odisha chapter), who is also the former bureaucrat, D.N. Padhi, said the LED technology had become popular and a lot of research was being done to popularise the technology, which is going to replace the condensed fluorescent lamp (CFL) bulbs.

Three Japanese scientists - Isamu Akasaki, Hirosi Amano and Shuji Nakamura - were awarded the Nobel prize in physics this year for their invention of the energy efficient and environment friendly blue LED.

This new technology is an energy-efficient and long-lasting form of lighting than the convenient tungsten bulbs and the CFLs.

States such as Rajasthan have formulated a plan whereby they sell LED bulbs to consumers for Rs 10 while its market cost is nearly Rs 400. The remaining amount is realised in instalments as surcharge in their electricity bill.