Today, E.ON will launch an LED streetlight that consumes up to 70 per cent less energy than standard lights and promises to deliver a "step change" in the efficiency of lighting infrastructure. The company already operates a number of lighting contracts for local authorities and private companies and is now looking to offer the technology to new and existing customers.

Rachel Hodge, the number of E.ON Sustainable Energy, said "We're bidding for a number of highway and streetlighting contracts and wanted to demonstrate a step change within the efficiency of lighting," She added that the long life of streetlamps – contracts typically run for 25 years – means that it is important to install the most efficient systems available at the start of a project or risk being locked into higher levels of energy use.

The new Marlin streetlight has been in development for 18 months and has been tested successfully at a number of E.ON sites, as well as with two local authorities, E.ON said. The technology was developed in partnership with West Midlands lighting firm Advanced LEDs, and according to E.ON it represents the first low-energy streetlight to be designed, developed and manufactured entirely in the UK. Calculations based on data taken from the trial at an E.ON site last year found that an organisation installing just 10 lights would save £33,000 and 63 tonnes of carbon over 25 years. The lights are also expected to last 10 times longer than standard streetlights – lasting for more than 150,000 hours.

The company said that as well as local authority customers, E.ON will target private sector firms which are expected to use the technology to light car parks. E.ON said the lamp also provides improved resolution on CCTV images. The lights will be produced in Coventry by local social enterprise Remploy and they contain no harmful mercury or heavy metals, meaning they are relatively easy to dispose of at the end of their life.