Norfolk street lighting goes green

A project to upgrade street lighting across Norfolk to make it more energy efficient and environmentally friendly has been completed almost a year ahead of schedule. The change will see CO2 emissions on lighting maintained by Norfolk County Council cut by over 200 tonnes a year. 

The work, carried out by Amey on behalf of Norfolk County Council, which replaced traditional High Intensity Discharge (HID) lighting with the latest generation of LED lanterns, started in August 2023 and involved replacing 16,800 HID lights with 15,531 LEDs. The change will mean that from November 2024 one hundred percent of Norfolk County Council's streetlighting will use low energy LEDs.

Cllr Graham Plant, cabinet member for highways infrastructure and transport, said "I'm delighted that this ambitious project has completed almost a year ahead of schedule. The upgrades mean we're keeping streets lit while avoiding hundreds of tonnes of carbon dioxide being pumped into the atmosphere each year. We're also saving taxpayer's money by reducing the amount of energy being used and paid for."

"The innovative new lanterns can be controlled by a Central Management System (CMS) which allows the streetlighting to be adapted to changing traffic patterns and need. The CMS also allows remote monitoring which will reduce the need to send inspectors out to monitor the lighting, saving time, money, and reducing the carbon emissions of those teams of those teams travelling across the county."

The work was funded by a capital commitment of £7.5m agreed by the Council's Cabinet meeting in November 2022.

Nick Powell, Transport Infrastructure Business Director at Amey, said: "I'm thrilled that our Streetlighting teams operating in Norfolk have delivered an outstanding service to the local authority, a year ahead of schedule. The teams have transformed the way the streets of Norfolk are lit to ensure a reduction in carbon emissions and energy costs."

"By installing a Central Management System for Norfolk County Council, we're able to adapt and monitor the lighting in areas across the county remotely, which will acheive huge environmental and cost savings for Norfolk."

The final phase of the move to low energy LEDs will save an estimated 1,099,032 kWh of energy per year, equating to approximately  £380,000  p.a. at the current electricity prices.

Since the first LED streetlights were installed in 2008, an estimate 71 million kWh have been saved, representing a reduction of over 22,200 tonnes in carbon dioxide emissions - equivalent to 6.7 million litres of diesel use. 

Watch a video of the final LED streetlight being installed.