Lighting partnership delivers sustainable savings

A partnership between Ausgrid and Waverley Council to upgrade hundreds of streetlights to more efficient LED lamps is now delivering sustainable savings to residents in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

Waverley Council requested an accelerated program to switch 760 existing residential streetlights to LEDs to help reduce carbon emissions and deliver savings.

The work began in July last year and this week Ausgrid crews installed the final LED streetlights in Waverley, Bronte and Rose Bay.

Ausgrid Chief Operating Officer Trevor Armstrong said the project followed a successful 2013 trial in North Bondi which reduced energy use by more than half.

The old streetlights can use up to 95 watts but the new LEDs use just 17 watts. They’re more energy efficient and easier to maintain and will last up to 20 years.

This program is the first of its kind and Ausgrid is proud to continue leading the charge in LED streetlighting.

We know that streetlights are an important part of making our community safer and residents also prefer the lighting quality and colour of LEDs,” Mr Armstrong said.

Mayor of Waverley John Wakefield said there are many benefits to the project.

The environment is one of our top priorities at Waverley Council and we are constantly looking at ways to reduce our carbon footprint. We live in such a beautiful area we need to look after it for generations to

Ausgrid maintains about 250,000 street lights on behalf of councils in parts of Sydney, the Central Coast and the Hunter.

Following the successful completion of the Waverley project Ausgrid is in talks with other local councils about extending the accelerated rollout of LEDs across our entire network.