Tralee to Pilot Low Energy Public Lighting

Pictured in The Square, location of the proposed LED Public Lighting Project. Photo shows (l to r): Gerry Riordan, Tralee Town Engineer, James Houlihan, Contracts Manager, ESB,  Oliver Blackwell and Alan Parker, Low Energy Designs, Michael Perse, Head of Public Lighting, ESB, and John Griffin, Tralee Development Officer.

Tralee is set to become the first town or city in Ireland to pilot low energy lighting. Town Engineer Gerry Riordan briefed Council members about the new initiative at their monthly meeting on September 8th.  In a joint venture with Low Energy Designs, a UK Company, and the ESB, Tralee Town Council will replace the existing incandescent lights in The Square and Abbey Court area with LED light fittings.

Detailed ‘before and after’ measurements will be taken of energy usage and lighting outputs by the ESB and Kerry County Council’s Energy Office and a case study on the project will be prepared by Sustainable Energy Ireland.  While LED fittings cost approximately twice traditional fittings the payback is in the order of  3-4 years with potential savings of 40% per annum in electricity usage and maintenance costs going forward. The pilot project will seek to quantify the potential savings. 

“Tralee Chamber raised the issue with us over the summer months and we did our own research and found that many North American and European cities were switching to LED public lighting as a way of saving energy and reducing costs” according to the town council’s  John Griffin.  “Interestingly while the energy consumption is reduced the actual lighting output increases resulting in much better lit public places.”  

There are approximately 2000 public lights in Tralee, a further 8,000 in County Kerry and over half a million nationally. Switching to LED public lighting could go a considerable way towards achieving the national local authority target of a 33% reduction in energy costs over the coming years.  The environmental savings in terms of CO₂ reduction could be in the order of 3 million tonnes per annum if LED public lighting was rolled out nationally.