Kilkenny County Council’s at the helm of a €50million public lighting scheme which spans nine local authorities, including Carlow’s.
The contract signing of the Public Lighting Energy Efficiency Project for the Eastern Region (PLEEP-ER) has taken place as part of a national bid to retrofit 205,000 bulbs to Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology.
Aim is to save €12million in energy and maintenance costs each year as well as annually reducing CO2 emissions by 20,000 tonnes and reducing energy and maintenance costs by 55%.
The project will also survey and collect data on the condition of the public lighting infrastructure to enable local authorities to plan and invest in the upgrading of the public lighting for our communities into the future.
The scheme sees investment by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) and 21 councils across the country which are divided into three regions.
The first phase rolled out in the south of the country and now those in the east take up the baton with Kilkenny and Carlow are Kildare, Wicklow, Tipperary, Louth, Offaly, Meath and Westmeath which between them will see an update of about 73,500 lights.
Cathaoirleach of Kilkenny County Council Pat Fitzpatrick has welcomed the contract signing, saying “Local authorities are committed to leading on climate action, reducing carbon emissions in our operations and meeting our energy efficiency targets. This project takes a big step in that direction as public lighting currently accounts for half of all the energy used by local authorities”.
He adds “Retrofitting public lighting to LED is not only good for the planet, it will also save us up to 55% on our energy and maintenance costs, while improving light quality. Advancements in LED technology allow for an improved visual environment, enhanced public safety and reduced light pollution.”
Meanwhile, earlier this year we heard how both Carlow and Kilkenny surpassed their energy reduction targets
