Sustainable Street Lighting Trial
Armadale concludes Sustainable Streetlight Trial
The City of Armadale, in partnership with Western Power and Synergy commenced a Sustainable Streetlighting trial back in September 2008 in a bid to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The innovative trial, which was rolled out as part of the award winning Switch your thinking! program, was delivered to help Western Power assess the performance of two new sustainable technologies - 42W compact fluorescent light globes (CFLs) and 50W twin-arc high pressure sodium lamps - in WA's unique environmental conditions.
The trial also provided a valuable opportunity for Western Power and Synergy to look at the economics of changing streetlights over to these new energy efficient technologies.
In a major win for WA local governments as they seek to slash their greenhouse gas emissions and as a result of the successful trial, from January 2011 the 42W CFL will be available in the Western Power Streetlight range.
It is intended that the new energy efficient CFL streetlights will replace the old, less efficient 80W mercury vapour lamps. These lamps currently constitute up to 80% of WA local governments' public lighting stock.
The introduction of the new, energy efficient street lighting technology will enable WA local governments to choose to install them in new developments and to progressively replace existing 80W mercury vapour street lights in their municipalities when they become unserviceable.
The State Underground Power Program (SUPP), or customer driven street light relocations or upgrades are examples of other projects that will also help increase the uptake rate of CFLs.
Mayor of Armadale Councillor Linton Reynolds said that the Sustainable Streetlighting Trial had served its purpose and that all WA local governments would now benefit from the introduction of the new technology to the Western Power Streetlight range.
"With streetlighting responsible for up to 50% of local government's annual greenhouse gas emissions, there are many WA local governments that will be pleased with today's announcement, as the technology has the potential to significantly slash corporate greenhouse gas emissions and help combat climate change."
"The trial has been a great success and we'd like to thank our official partners Western Power and Synergy for their involvement," he said.
Residents living on streets involved in the trial were also surveyed as part of the City's evaluation efforts and to help conclude the trial. The response was extremely positive with 97% of respondents supporting the introduction of energy efficient street lights to the Western Power Streetlight range.
For more information on this trial download the full case study.
