Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation and Energy Efficiency Services Limited on Thursday signed an agreement on implementation of an LED streetlight project for the city, described as the first in the country.
Municipal Commissioner Pravin Kumar and ESSL Managing Director Saurabh Kumar signed the agreement that paves the way for replacing about 92,000 conventional streetlights with LED lights and their maintenance for seven years on a payment of Rs.18.39 crore every year. More than 70,000 lights have already been replaced by ESSL, a joint venture company of PSUs of Ministry of Power and the Government of India, that took up the task after massive damage to streetlights when cyclone Hudhud battered the city.
The total project cost is Rs.65.76 crore.
Terming the agreement a win-win situation, technologically, monetarily and environmentally, Mr. Pravin Kumar said it would bring down consumption from 3.92 crore units a year for the 92,000 lights to 1.49 crore units and the power bill from Rs.23 crore to Rs.9.7 crore.
With another Rs.7 crore on maintenance, GVMC spends Rs.30 crore a year on streetlights. The power bill and maintenance paid to EESL comes to Rs.28.19 crore, thus saving Rs.1.93 crore every year.
Mr. Pravin Kumar said the operation and maintenance cost was expected to come down over a period of time. He said EESL would also set up a Centrally-Controlled Monitoring System (CCMS) with cloud-based technology that would enable any repair in 48 hours.
“On our part we would ensure that every single light glows,” he said. The agreement with ESSL would also help bring in value-added services like wi-fi connectivity, surveillance etc.
Unparalleled project
Describing it as the largest project in the country, Mr. Saurabh Kumar said the execution in a record time was unparalleled. The project had no upfront cost for GVMC. EESL would ensure 98 per cent success failing which penalty had to be paid.
“The success of Visakhapatnam has national prominence with it forming the fulcrum for LED lights project in 100 towns across the country announced by the Prime Minister,” he said. Besides, Andhra Pradesh would be the leader with all the 110 urban local bodies getting LED lights in two years.
State Energy Conservation Mission CEO A. Chadrasekhar Reddy said it was a historic agreement achieving energy saving which could be utilised for other sectors or villages.
