Lighting the way in energy savings

While many councils across the country are turning off their street lights to cut costs, Plymouth is investing in a citywide lighting upgrade that will see its energy bill reduced by over £1 million a year.

Around 11,000 energy efficient light emitting diode (LED) lamps have been installed so far as part of an £8 million programme to replace all of the City Council’s 29,000 street lights.

The 18-month project began in August and installation is being carried out in phases by the Council’s street lighting maintenance contractor Cartledge Limited, part of the Kier group.

The new lamps emit a whiter and clearer light, similar to moonlight, which makes it easier for people to see and people in areas of the UK and abroad where LED lights have been installed say they feel safer as a result. White light has also been shown to improve visibility for drivers

The LED lamps are more directional, so there is less light encroaching onto people’s homes and less light pollution out into the night sky – which is better for stargazers as well as the environment.

In most cases the units (supplied by Urbis Schreder) are flatter and squarer than existing lamps, but in areas with heritage lighting, care is being taken to use lamps that are similar in appearance to the existing ones.

Councillor Mark Lowry, Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “While councils all over the country are turning their street lights off to make short-term savings, we’re taking steps to ensure we can keep ours on and still significantly reduce our energy spend. By replacing our street lights with LED lamps we expect to see a 70 per cent reduction in energy use and carbon emissions – without having to turn any of our street lights off. That’s good news for the environment and good news for our Council taxpayers.”

Plymouth is among the first wave of cities in the UK to replace all its street lights with LED units.