The Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) or municipalities across the State are set to see brighter nights as they are in for a street-lighting facelift through replacement of conventional lamps with LEDs saving energy consumption by 50 per cent and reducing power bills substantially.
The Commissioner and Director of Municipal Administration (CDMA) on Wednesday facilitated the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (under Ministry of Power) for switching over to LED streetlights. So far, 30 ULBs have agreed to go for LEDs while 18 more are ready to follow suit.
“Municipal bodies need not spend on replacing the conventional lamps. Operations and maintenance of the LEDs for seven years will be taken up by the EESL. They will monetise the energy saved and ULBs can expect to get the same benefit after the contract period,” explained CMDA T.K. Sreedevi, during an interaction before the ceremony.
The EESL had undertaken a pilot study in a GHMC area before taking up the demand survey in the 72-odd ULBs in the State and about 60 municipal bodies have been covered so far. The rest of the demand surveys would be completed and works would be grounded within the current financial year. In fact, Ms. Sreedevi has set the deadline of Ugadi for the project completion.
The 30 ULBs have more than two lakh streetlights consuming 81 million units of power and post the switch over to LEDs, the consumption is expected to come down to 31 million units. The EESL would be spending Rs. 98.9 crore on the work. Municipal bodies pay Rs. 69.90 crore annually for power consumption and this is expected to come down to Rs. 52.49 crore when switched over to LEDs.
The Commissioner pointed out that the power bills were a major burden for ULBs and once they are reduced with LEDs, it would be the first step towards ‘smart cities’ as it could lead to further spin offs like wi-fi spots and so on to attract investments. Once MoUs are signed, tenders would be called for and the work would get rolling as talks were also held with the power distribution companies for replacement of equipment like transformers and the likes. The EESL representatives have also offered to replace more lights than the figure obtained during the demand survey. Old equipment would be purchased and existing contract manpower of the ULBs would be utilised for the work.
