NEW DELHI: More than 21 lakh conventional street lights with high power consumption have been replaced with LED (light emitting diode) lamps across the country so far as civic bodies seek to make the most of falling costs of these energy efficient lighting equipment.
Rajasthan has replaced the highest number of conventional lights under the power ministry’s Street Lighting National Programme which is being implemented in 23 states. Some 1.34 crore conventional street lights are to be replaced under the programme.
The total saving from replacements so far is estimated at 295 million units in terms of energy and over 73 mw in terms of generation capacity avoided. In terms of the environment, the replacements are estimated to have reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 2.3 lakh ton nes, according to Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL), the energy saving company under the power ministry that is implementing the replacement project. The programme is progressing on the back of procurement price of LED street lights coming down from Rs 135 per watt to Rs 80 per watt owing to mass procurement of the lights.
EESL makes the entire upfront investment in installation of the street lights and no additional budget allocation from the municipalities is required.
The civic bodies pay EESL from the savings in energy and maintenance cost over a seven-year period, making the LED lights affordable and accessible.
EESL’s procurements carry a seven-year warranty against technical defects.The company conducts quality checks right from the bidding stage to the field level. This has resulted in the LEDs’ overall technical fault being less than 1% in the 21 lakh lights installed by EESL in the country .
“LED street lights will be consuming up to 60% less energy . The bright lights will lead to safer roads for pedestrians and motorists. Additionally , EESL also plans to install three million LED street lights in the current financial year,“ a company statement quoted MD Saurabh Kumar as saying.
EESL is also implementing a special heritage lighting project, wherein 1,000 LED street lights have been installed in Kashi region of Uttar Pradesh and another 4,000 are being installed.
Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com
