CDA to replace old streetlights with LEDs

[Salman]

CDA to replace old streetlights with LEDs

ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has recently got a project approved to replace the city’s conventional lights with Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs).

Besides the project for a free dispersal of 30 million Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs), commonly known as energy savers, the government is contemplating to immediately introduce the new technology, LEDs, to fight energy crisis across the country.

Experts say 50 percent energy consumption of big and small cities can be saved by installing LEDs in place of conventional streetlights. They say CFLs can cause serious health hazards, including cancer, if they are disposed of or mixed with the garbage without adopting a proper procedure. Whereas LEDs are more economical and environment-friendly, experts say.

Following the decisions of an energy summit in 2010 in Islamabad, the National Energy Conservation Centre (ENERCON) wrote a letter to the CDA, advising the authority to replace the city’s 65,000 conventional streetlights with LEDs. This would reduce Islamabad electricity expenditures by 50 percent, ENERCON said in the letter.

The letter says, “We believe that systems like HID/LED lights can save approximately 2MW-plus of electrical energy on an immediate basis in CDA’s streetlight load.”

At present, the CDA’s energy consumption results in an annual electricity bill of around Rs 1.2 to Rs 1.4 billion, which is increasing gradually.

After inviting bids, the CDA’s technical and financial teams short-listed three firms in accordance with the rules of Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA). The evaluation of technical and financial proposals of the firms and documents were also cleared by the Public Accounts Committee.

Of the total cost of Rs 6,524 million, the CDA would spend only Rs 1,631 million on the project while the rest of the expenditure (Rs 4,893 million) will be borne through less debt financing in 5-7 years – the money which will be saved through reducing the energy consumption in the city after installation of LED lights.

“The project cost will be substantially funded through the saving CDA makes in its electricity bill,” officials say.

The LED technology will substantially save the replacement cost of conventional lights as, at present, existing lights are replaced every one-and-a-half years on average. On the other hand, the life of LEDs is 20 years (80,000 hours). No maintenance is required as the system is maintenance-free and environment-friendly. With the replacement of existing conventional lights by LED lights, the cost of wiring in the new areas will be reduced by 60 percent due to reduced load and the line losses will be reduced because of the reduced flow of current. An inbuilt Intelligent Lighting Control System is present in the technology which saves over 70 percent electricity.

“If a similar project is implemented all over Pakistan for residential and public lighting purposes, it would save around 1600MW,” officials said.

After installation of LED lights in the city, a stock of 65,000 conventional lights will be sold to Afghanistan and the negotiations between the two countries are underway.