Egypt wants to replace 1.5 million street lights with energy efficient solutions

Egypt wants to replace 1.5 million streetlights with energy efficient solutions to reduce the country’s carbon footprint. The project should also reduce the share of the national budget devoted to street lighting, according to the Ministry of Local Development.

The replacement of the streetlights will take place in the 2021-2022 fiscal year and will cost $ 12.7 million. The project will save the government more than $ 101 million. According to government officials, the new streetlights will be more efficient because they emit a brighter beam of light than the old ones while consuming less energy.

They are available in two capacities, 100 watts and 120 watts and are equipped with technology that turns them on and off automatically according to the sunrise and sunset times specific to each province.

They are also equipped with measuring devices which record the variations in the electric current flowing through the streetlights. This will allow the government to monitor the deeper problems of the electricity grid in general.

In addition, the government has set up a database to find out which roads in the country are equipped with these new lampposts. This database is also used to manage the maintenance of new lampposts already installed. So far, the provinces of Cairo, Qena, Sohag, Gharbiya, Daqahliyah and Assyut have benefited from this lamp post replacement program.

This is an initiative of the Ministries of Electricity and Finance launched a few years ago. It has already installed 2.7 million streetlights and saved $ 603 million. The government’s goal with this project is to reduce public spending on street lighting and boost domestic industries by producing the new streetlights locally.