Eight city corporations in Bangladesh will be replacing fluorescent and sodium street lights to energy saving LED lights, according to local newspaper The Daily Star. The replacement to LED is estimated to save the province 10 megawatts (MWs) of electricity per day. In other words, additional 5,000 households can be powered every day as the lights consume less than 30 to 40 percent energy than existing lights.

The project will cover streetlights along 200 kilometers (km) of roads of city corporations in Dhaka, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Khulna, Barisal and Chittagong. Among these cities, 20 km will be powered by solar panels. 

The report quoted Power Development Board (PDB) Assistant Engineer Asaduzzaman commenting the installation of the 120, 90 and 60 watt lights will be under an Asian Development Bank-funded project. The installation is estimated to take around two months and the replacement will start in the 2014-15 fiscal year.

The board scrapped an earlier plan of installing solar panels after witnessing problems from lack of proper maintenance and absence of adequate light in some palces, said Asaduzzaman.

Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) has already seen benefits from using LEDs last year, after fitting 61 lamp-posts with 75 watt LED lights that run on solar energy. 

DSCC Superintendent Engineer (electricity) Zafor Ahmed said the corporation also has plans to install the lights from Gulistan to Nayabazar vi Al-Razzak Hotel, the Mailbagh rail crossing to Mugda, Bangabandhu Medical College Hospital to Matsya Bhaban and on Dayaganj road and part of Beribadh road. These places will be fitted with 90 watt LED lights or better quality lights. However, the plan has been halted at the moment due to funding constraints.

The capital currently has around 22,000 sodium and 57,000 fluorescent street lights.