Streetlights in Sydney's Inner West go green

Sydney’s Inner West Council has entered into a contract to systematically replace streetlights in residential streets with new LED lights that will use much less power, save ratepayers money and reduce carbon emissions.

Council will invest $2.8 million over the next two years to replace the older fluorescent lamps — many of which were installed decades ago — having joined a buying group of 29 councils to provide economy of scale. The Southern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (SSROC) led the negotiations with electricity distributor Ausgrid on behalf of participating councils.

“For years, we’ve been calling on energy providers to replace the old, wasteful lamps, which consume a lot of power and represent around a quarter of Council’s annual electricity consumption,” said Mayor Darcy Byrne.

“We aren’t prepared to wait any longer and have taken the initiative to update the over 4600 streetlights that keep residential roads safe at night by replacing them with efficient light-emitting diode (LED) lamps.”

The more efficient residential streetlights should protect the council and residents against the rising cost of electricity, with the investment expected to pay for itself within seven years. The LED lights will also reduce carbon emissions in the Inner West by almost 1500 tonnes each year.

Other benefits include:

• providing the community with more effective, high-quality white lighting, which improves safety
• significantly reducing light pollution to the night sky (by more than 90%)
• eliminating and ensuring safe recycling of mercury-containing lamps.
   

The streetlight replacement program is the latest initiative in the council’s Climate and Renewables Strategy, which aims for a carbon-neutral council and a zero-emissions community.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Milan Noga reco

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