Safety on the roads at night is being enhanced. That’s because Caribbean Utilities Company, Ltd. (CUC), in collaboration with the National Roads Authority (NRA) have launched a project to replace all of its street lamps with LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes). The project will span over the next five years and has already begun in George Town with the installation of over 2,000 LED lights as part of the first phase.
Over 7,000 LEDs will be installed across Grand Cayman, which will reap numerous benefits, including an estimated 26% savings in overall street lighting costs billed to customers.

The reduction in energy use by the LED fixtures for the total project will be approximately 3.78 gigawatt hour (GWh) per year for a reduction of 195,000 imperial gallons of diesel burnt.

The new lights will also bring about a massive cut of 5.2 million pounds in excess CO2 emissions, which will help Grand Cayman meet its emissions target as outlined in the National Energy Policy.

CUC’s Vice President Operations, Mr. David Watler says, “CUC has worked closely with the Utility Regulation and Competition Office (OfReg) and the National Roads Authority (NRA) to make this project a reality. The project is underway and customers can now see the difference in lighting along our roads, there are many benefits to using LED lighting. These new lights are more environmentally friendly, reduce light pollution and will result in costs saving to our customers.”

LED lights consume 70% less energy than conventional high pressure sodium (HPS) lights and have a significantly longer life span leading to lower maintenance costs.

Furthermore, LEDs are more efficient as HPS bulbs waste most of their energy as heat instead of light. In addition to having a higher efficiency, LEDs are also brighter than their HPS counterparts.

The CUC team is working hard to make the transition to more eco-friendly street lighting as safe and as smooth as possible for customers as they continue their rollout plan of replacing all existing bulbs to LEDs by 2020.

IMAGE:

Power Line Technician Chris Bodden installs an LED street light.