New Zealand’s Wellington City Council is planning to retrofit 18,000 streetlights with smart LED streetlights, according to a recent report by Radio New Zealand News.
The new streetlights is estimated to cost the city between NZ$ 10 million (US $8.43 million) to NZ $20 million depending on features included. The lighting system is said to be controlled remotely and can be used as emergency situations, where the light could be put onto flash mode to signal ambulances, which address made the call, said Paul Glennie, the manager of the city’s streetlights.
According to Glennie, the new lighting system could cut the city’s energy consumption by three quarters. The smart streetlight proposal will be submitted to the city urban development council on Aug. 21, 2014.
Other New Zealand cities are also turning to LED streetlights. The New Plymouth district Council for instance also plans to invest NZ$ 5.5 million to replace 8,100 streetlights with LEDs.
According to the City’s manager of roading assets, Max Aves, the investment would pay for itself after 10 years and save NZ$ 10 million in operation costs for the following decade.
Plans of rolling out LED streetlights are also underway in Otorohanga and Kawhia District in the Waikato region to replace a total of 432 bulbs, according to a report from The Waikato Times.
