Schneider Electric Launches “Light It Up” to Bring Access to Electricity to Rural Communities.

·         Over 1,800 units of
portable solar-powered LED lamps will be distributed to rural communities in 12
countries across Asia Pacific

·         Connect 1,300 families to
electricity and lighting, and helping to improve the living conditions for
these communities

Singapore – September
26, 2016 – Schneider Electric,
the global specialist in energy management and automation, announced today that
it has launched “Light It Up”, a corporate social responsibility (CSR)
programme to bring access to electricity to rural communities across the Asia
Pacific region.  From mid- September to early November, Schneider Electric
employees will distribute more than 1,800 units of the Mobiya solar lamps to
rural communities in 12 countries across the region.

Economic and social
development is largely driven by access to energy. However, around 1.3 billion
people on this planet still lack access to modern energy today[1], while another one
billion people have access to only unreliable electricity networks. A
significant proportion of the world’s energy poor are living in Asia. In
countries like Myanmar and Cambodia, the rural electrification rate can be as
low as 18 per cent[2]. Schneider Electric
believes that access to energy is a basic human right, and it is committed to
put reliable, affordable and green energy within reach of a great many
households across the Asia Pacific region.

Schneider Electric’s
commitment to promote sustainable development and provide safe and clean access
to energy is in its DNA. In the past six years, Schneider Electric has
contributed to providing 5 million people with access to energy The goal is to
reach 50 million people within the next 10 years.With “Light It Up”, Schneider Electric employees, as well as sponsors from
Schneider Electric’s partners and customers from 17 countries in Asia Pacific
have bought and sponsored a total of over 1,800 Mobiya solar lamps. These lamps
will be distributed to rural communities across 12 countries: Bangladesh,
Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Pakistan, the
Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, connecting a total of over 1,300 families to
electricity and lighting, and helping to improve living conditions for these
communities.

“At Schneider, we
believe that access to energy is a basic human right which should be made available
to everyone. I am happy that this project brings many parties together who want
to contribute meaningfully in helping remote communities gain access to safe,
reliable, efficient and sustainable energy,” said Damien
Dhellemmes, Senior Vice-President of Global Supply Chain, East Asia, Japan
& Pacific at Schneider Electric. “With the Light It Up programme,
we look forward to sharing our innovation at every level in energy with the
rural and remote communities in this region.”

Here are some of the key projects that will take place this year:

·         162 households in the
Kawhmu Village in Myanmar are living in poverty and have no
access to the outside world. Upon recommendation from the Department of Rural
Development, Government Ministry (DRD), Schneider Electric aims to equip each
household with a Mobiya solar lamp to improve the lighting situation for late
night studying and increase the safety for night time transportation.

·         96 low-income households
in the surburbian area on the hills of Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia do not have access to
electricity and rely on candles as their main source of light. In collaboration
with the French-Mongolian Chamber of Commerce and Ulaanbaatar’s Social Welfare
and Service department, Schneider Electric aims to provide every household with
a Mobiya solar lamp to extend childiren’s study time and adults’ productivity.

·         275 households in Tan
Loi Village in the An Giang Province of Vietnam from the Khmer ethnic
minority group are living off-grid with no sustainable source of income. In
partnership with GreenID (a local NGO) and the Women Union of Tan Loi,
Schneider Electric will be providing 192 Mobiya solar lamps to the village,
which will be distributed to the villagers via a sustainable entrepreneurship
plan.

·         The fishing community
in Dreamland Rosario at Cavite in the Philippines is considered one of
the poorest districts in the province. The 50 families in the
community cannot
afford electricity in their homes, and have to rely on kerosene and candles for
their lighting needs. Schneider Electric will donate Mobiya
solar lamps to the 50 affected families to not only help the familiies to cut
down their spending on kerosene fuel, but also as “fish bait” and safe use on
fishing boats.

The Mobiya range of portable products for lighting and mobile charging is an
award winning energy-efficient and eco-friendly LED lamps that provide up to 48
hours of lighting with one day of solar charge.

[1] Source: IEA, World Energy Outlook 2015