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Less than 3% of available NEA e-vouchers for green appliances used
SINGAPORE — Only a small portion of an e-vouchers meant to encourage one- to three-room flats to switch to green appliances have been used, more than one-and-a-half years after the Climate-Friendly Households Programme became available.
The National Environment Agency (NEA), which runs the programme with the Public Utilities Board, said that only about 23,000 e-vouchers have been used as of May this year. More than 900,000 e-vouchers are available to eligible households.
Under the programme, more than 300,000 households were each eligible for three e-vouchers worth S$225. These e-vouchers could be used to buy more energy- and water-efficient appliances that could help save costs and reduce consumption.
The three comprise of a S$150 e-voucher to offset the cost of a three-ticks and above energy efficient and climate-friendly refrigerator; a S$50 e-voucher to purchase three-ticks water efficient shower fitting; and a S$25 e-voucher to buy LED lights.
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Some 11,700 vouchers were redeemed for energy-efficient refrigerators, 7,600 for LED lights, and 3,700 for water-efficient shower fittings, according to the NEA.
Apart from higher redemptions at the launch of the programme on 28 November 2020, the monthly redemption rates have been stable throughout most of the programme, added the NEA. The e-vouchers will expire on 31 December 2023.
"We encourage all eligible HDB households to redeem their vouchers and switch to energy and water efficient appliances. As the vouchers are valid until the end of 2023, households can do so when their appliances are due for replacement," said an NEA spokesperson.
According to the programme website, if all eligible households made the switch, as much as 400 million gallons of water – equivalent of 606 Olympic-sized swimming pools – could be saved.
The carbon emissions reduced would be equivalent to 31,000 cars, while each household could save between S$40 and S$120 annually.
Electricity tariffs for the months of July to September have risen due to higher energy costs, driven by rising global gas and oil prices exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The electricity tariff has increased by an average of 8.1 per cent or 2.21 Singapore cents per kilowatthour (kWh) from 1 July to 30 September, compared with the previous quarter. Per these calculations, the new monthly average bill for a three-room housing board flat will be S$80.88, up from S$74.90.
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