The project to replace Borough-owned highway street lights with LED street lights has successfully come to completion this year.
After winning a competitive bidding process, the Council was awarded £5.3million by the Department for Transport and invested an additional £1million, which has seen over 14,000 LED lanterns installed and over 2,400 columns replaced across the Borough.
The new lanterns are low energy and have substantially improved the quality of street lighting across the Borough and provided a green alternative to current lighting.
They have dramatically reduced levels of carbon dioxide emissions from street lighting, contributing to Bedford Borough Council reducing its carbon emissions by 53%. Carbon dioxide emissions from street lights have dropped by around 1,500 tonnes from 2014-15 to now. This is the equivalent of the carbon dioxide emitted by driving over 3.7million miles in the average car, or the average energy use of 164 homes for a whole year.
The installation of these lights has not just reduced their carbon footprint, but the increased efficiency is also saving the Council money. Energy consumption has reduced by over 1,704,000 kWh’s from 2016/17-2017/18 which, based on 10p per kWh charge, will have saved the Council £170,000.
Mayor Dave Hodgson said “This multi-million pound project to replace all of our street lights was delivered on schedule, with good quality and energy efficient lighting now in place across the Borough. I am delighted that we have been able to make this improvement, bringing benefits for local communities, the Council’s finances and the environment.”
The full benefits of this upgrade won’t be seen until March 2019, as that will be the first complete year with over 14,000 LED lanterns installed.
As part of this project, a Central Management System was installed which reports back on power consumption levels, as well as faults that develop.
