Latest tranche of street lights to get upgraded

02 March 2017

A total of 1,000 street lights in the north part of the city are being upgraded just now from ‘orange’ lamps to LEDs as part of a rolling seven-year plan.

The work is being carried out in the areas of Dyce Industrial Estate, parts of Bucksburn, parts of Northfield, and parts of the Bridge of Don and will shortly be heading into Old Aberdeen.

Aberdeen City Council’s Finance, Policy and Resources convener Councillor Willie Young said: “There are many advantages to the new LED streetlights including long-term savings to the City Council as they use significantly less power and provide a reduced carbon footprint than the older lamps.

“The total of £9.7million for the project over the eight financial years ties in with the £1billion transformational programme in the city which includes many infrastructure projects such as the AWPR, the Diamond Bridge, the Dyce Park and Ride, and the Berryden Corridor.”

In 2015, the City Council’s Finance, Policy and Resources committee approved that an investment sum of £1.5million would be required from the Non-Housing Capital Plan on an annual basis from 2016/17 to 2021/22, and £0.7million in 2022/23 to fund the change of the current street lighting lanterns from high usage energy lamps to LEDs or a future equivalent.

Savings from street lighting electricity in future years will exceed the cost of financing this investment, so the investment can be considered “self-financing”.

The initial project programme is for 5 years and this will replace approximately 74% of the current lanterns with a potential of £10.54million savings for an investment totalling £7.5million.

There is an additional benefit to using LED street lights as they give out a bright, clear light which is easier on the human eye than the orange tungsten lights. They also give a clearer picture for CCTV footage.