Saint Lucia: The Caribbean Island is tackling the global climate crisis and pursuing greener and cleaner energy solutions.
As per the sources, the government installed more than 14,000 LED bulbs around the island from August to December 2023.
By the end of March 2024, nearly 17,000 LED bulbs will be installed. The nation is already getting benefits from the cost savings.
Since the LED replacements began, the government saved $10,404.84 daily. The government also saved $312,145.10 monthly and saved $4.5 million on an annual basis.
Reportedly, transitioning away from high-pressure sodium bulbs to Light light-emitting diode bulbs will advance and help the country accomplish its goal of reducing carbon emissions.
The government has saved millions in electricity costs.
Notably, the government is removing more than 20,000 high-pressure sodium bulbs from street lamps throughout the island. They will also replace the sodium bulbs with energy-efficient LEDs.
Earlier, before December 2023, the government received the street lighting bill that ranged from $6 million to $8 million every year.
The government will redirect these cost savings to improve the security and road safety of the citizens.
The government will use the funds to procure and install CCTV cameras, over 200, on utility poles around the island of Saint Lucia.
The Chief Electrical Engineer – Shane Jean, talks about the benefits of the LED transition in the released video.
Chief Shane Jean said, “Street lighting in Saint Lucia consumes about 10% of the total electricity that is produced.”
He mentioned that when given a super-populated country like Saint Lucia 10% of electricity being consumed by street lighting alone is quite a bit.
The chief engineer also said that with the transition to LEDs, a lot of electricity savings will be made. “So, therefore, find that LED lights to begin with, especially those that are installed,’’ added the chief.
Chief Jean mentioned that Saint Lucia consumes a lot less electricity, and that automatically translates to savings on the financial side. He said, “On an annual basis in Saint Lucia, the street lighting bill comes to closer to $8 billion.”
“There are 22,000 street lights in Saint Lucia (close to 22) approximately 22,000 street lights in Saint Lucia,” he added.
He expressed that the objective was to change everything that was left, that was, to change high-pressure sodium into leads.
“So we are taking that close to 17,000 lights. At the end of December, 14,000 lights had been changed already,” mentioned the Chief Engineer.
Chief Shane Jean said that a reduction of about over $350,000 monthly on the monthly electrical bill. “We are looking at about 60% savings. When you project the figures there, we are seeing something like almost $4.5 million in savings already,” he said.
