The global uptake of LED street lighting is continuing to gain momentum, with New Zealand’s Gisborne District Council one of the most recent organisations to rollout a large-scale replacement project.
The council is set to replace in excess of 950 old high pressure sodium street lights with upgrades to new LED power-saving lighting in the district over the next three years.
“More than 300 LED streetlights are being installed in 13 rural townships including Matawai, Motu, Ruatoria, Patutahi between 14 March and 27 May,” Tairāwhiti Roads General Manager Dave Hadfield says.
Work to install the new lights kicked off in March in the district’s townships. Replacements in Te Karaka – including the township upgrade and city centre with repainting of street poles – have also begun.
Hadfield says contractors will be replacing the 70–250watt high pressure sodium lights with 27–100watt LED luminaires, saving in excess of $20,000 a year on both combined electricity and reduced maintenance required for repair and replacement, with lights expected to last a minimum of ten years.
“We’re one of many councils in New Zealand who are changing to LED streetlights, and one of the first regions to adopt a ‘whole town by town’ approach’,” Hadfield says.
The LED luminaires will produce clearer, more efficient light, providing higher road definition of things like road markings, pedestrians and vehicles, and will also provide significant ongoing savings in power use.
LED streetlights also have the benefit of reduced light pollution such as spill light, glare and sky glow which brightens the natural night sky.
“Replacing old fashioned lighting with new LED has a number of benefits both environmental and financial,” Hadfield explains.
The are 3829 council-owned lighting assets in Tairāwhiti. The cost of replacements this year is $300,000, which is 61% subsidised by Transport Agency funding.
IPWEA’s SLSC
The benefits of LEDs over traditional street lighting bulbs are well-known – LED luminaires use dramatically less energy, are more reliable, need less maintenance and create safer roads and public spaces by providing better illumination. In spite of the overwhelming commercial, safety and environmental case for the wholesale renewal of street lighting infrastructure, less than 10% street lighting in Australia and New Zealand has been upgraded to LEDs, or is scheduled for upgrade. Recognising the opportunities LED bulbs and smart controls present and the need for greater education around them, a Street Lighting and Street Controls (SLSC) program will see IPWEA and service providers inform government at all levels about the application and benefits of street lighting and smart control technology – and where reforms are needed to realise the potential benefits.
Training will include webinars, face-to-face courses in major cities and development of an SLSC “maturity matrix” that will allow local governments and road authorities to self-assess their progress. The service delivery partners for the SLSC programme are Sydney-based Next Energy and New Zealand-based Strategic Lighting Partners (SLP), under a joint venture agreement with IPWEA.
The two specialist consultancies are governance and technical management advisors on street lighting and energy to national, state and local government agencies in both Australia and New Zealand.
The program will be launched in the coming months. For more information contact IPWEA’s Director Sustainability Dr Stephen Lees at stephen.lees@ipwea.org.