We are currently carrying out works to both improve the street lighting performance in the region and save money at the same time.
How much could we save?
- it is expected to initially save around £100k each year in reduced energy costs alone, a figure that could rise significantly due to the energy inflation rates predicted over the coming years
- this would see us save around £20m over the 20 year life span of the new LED lanterns
How does it work?
- the new LED lighting uses around half the energy currently used by the existing street lights in the Borders and the new technology has a longer service life and requires less maintenance
- a total of 17.8k street lights and 1.2k signs and bollards were changed to energy saving equivalents in the Scottish Borders between April 2014 and March 2018
How will the new lights affect street safety?
- the LED light will help support better detection of crime as it improves images captured at night from CCTV as well as allowing facial recognition, clothing, colours and car registration numbers to be more easily identified
- this will help make our streets safer and assist in giving more accurate descriptive information to the police
How will the new lights differ from the existing ones?
- new or replacement lighting is designed to British and European lighting standards and will be white light technology
- the aim is to provide the right standard for the type of road, traffic flow and local conditions. Some roads will have noticeably brighter lighting for these reasons