It’s winter. Nearly.
And with the temperature dropping and things getting darker, earlier, what better time to look at that bit of our everyday life that adds a bit of illumination into the dark months of the year. Street lighting.
Street lights – by the numbers
68,900 – that’s the total number of streetlights operated by Lincolnshire County Council
45,060 – the amount of streetlights that are LED
18,160 – the amount of streetlights that are dimming units
46,000 – the amount of streetlights that are ‘Part Night’
LCC’s street light energy consumption tells a fascinating story about big improvements that have been made to the roadside network, but to get the full picture you have to go back a few years – specifically to 2016 when the authority started its Streetlighting Transformation Project.
This was a county-wide initiative to replace and upgrade streetlights from conventional lamps and all-night operation to LED lamps, dimming units and part-night operation. The idea was to save energy consumption and money. And it really worked.
In terms of energy, using conventional ‘old style’ lamps and all-night operation saw the county use 24.3million kWhrs in 2016.
Compare that to using LED lamps, dimming units and part-night operation and that amount dropped dramatically to 9.5million kWhrs across the last 12 months. That’s a massive 61% cut in energy needs.
And the numbers keep improving around carbon emissions, too. 2016 saw 12,070 tonnes of carbon emissions from the streetlight operation alone whilst the last 12 months slashed that number down to 2,190 tonnes – that's an 82% reduction.
Looking at cost, it’s an even better story. In 2016 LCC spent £2.59million on streetlight energy. So far the past 12 months have cost LCC £3.22million - BUT – to get the real story you have to factor in the actual cost of the energy today compared to what it cost seven years ago.
So, if LCC was still using the 24.3million kWhrs it was in 2016, then the annual charge at 2023 prices would now be OVER £13.2million. And that’s not a year’s figure yet either, because there’s still a considerable chunk of the year to go.
That’s another huge saving and testament to forward planning with the 2016 Streetlight Transformation Project.