Australia first energy-efficient lighting trial

Mines and Energy Minister Geoff Wilson took energy efficient lighting to the streets of the Sunshine Coast last night.

The Minister and Maroochy Shire Mayor Cr Joe Natoli announced a street lighting trial – the first of its kind in Australia – and the first lights to shine were on the Sunshine Coast town of Seaside.

Five local governments across south-east Queensland will take part in the $600,000 energy-efficient street-lighting trial.

Minister Wilson said the State Government, the five councils and ENERGEX would share the costs of the trial, which would see 50-watt mercury vapour lights replaced with more energy-efficient lights.

“The trial will start later this year and is planned to run for at least two years, with an estimated 300 streetlights being tested,” Mr Wilson said.

“The trial is the first of its kind for street light trials in Australia. It involves the use of sophisticated measuring devices to monitor the performance of the lights,” he said.

“The scientific rigour and research that has gone into this project and its use of innovation sets it apart from other street lighting trials.

“The trial will look how the lights perform in different climatic conditions, from beachside Maroochy streets to frost-prone areas around Ipswich.

“The trial will also look at how well the street lights weather the summer storms in south east Queensland.

“And the trial will also monitor illumination from the energy-efficient lights to ensure they meet national standards and high public safety expectations.”

Cr Natoli said the Maroochy Council’s energy management strategy was an integral part of council’s overall sustainability focus.

“There are no silver bullets in combating the increase of greenhouse gas emissions but as Maroochy currently has 11,000 street lights, this is one of our major projects in addressing the challenges of energy sustainability”, Cr Natoli said.

Cr Natoli said it was pleasing that the Council, State Government and ENERGEX were working together on the trials, in a partnership that would clearly indicate the future direction for the street light manufacturing industry in an increasingly energy-constrained world.

The trial has been designed so that if successful, the results could be applied to most south-east Queensland conditions and help the broader roll-out of energy-efficient streetlights across south-east Queensland and eventually other parts of the state.

“Most other states use an 80-watt mercury vapour lamp, but Queensland uses predominately 50-watt mercury vapour lamps,” Mr Wilson said.

“We want to be more energy efficient. If the trial comes up with a suitable alternative, there is real scope to cut the amount of energy our street-lighting consumes.

A desktop study by independent lighting expert Steve Coyne of the Queensland University of Technology, in association with lighting consultant Peter McLean, comparing operating costs, energy efficiency, reduction in greenhouse gases and logistical issues indicated there could be substantive savings available by replacing current technology with newer more energy efficient lamps.

Maroochy has 11,000 streetlights on major and minor roads, which consume 4.8 megawatt hours of electricity a year and cost the council $1.2 million annually in energy, operation and maintenance bills.

Across south-east Queensland, public lighting costs local government $27.7 million annually in tariff charges.

In the south-east Queensland ENERGEX distribution area, there were 271,736 public lights using 132GWh of electricity, responsible for approximately 140,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, according to 2005-06 statistics.

“I congratulate the councils and ENERGEX for working together on this project, and I look forward to the hard and rigorous scientific data that will be able to show us the best way forward in implementing energy-efficient street and public lighting in Queensland,” Mr Wilson said.

The trial is being managed by the Energy Efficiency Public Lighting Work Group, established in 2006, which includes representatives from local government, ENERGEX, the Department of Mines and Energy and independent lighting expert Steve Coyne.

The Queensland Government is providing financial support for the trial under its EnergyWise program.

Media Inquiries: Ellen McIntyre 3225 1819