PHOTO: Local crews are working to complete an upgrade of highway and street lighting in towns around the district as part of a major project to install L.E.D lighting.
By OLIVER BROWN
A NEW energy efficient upgrade to the street lighting in Coonamble is well underway with similar upgrades to surrounding towns soon to follow.
The upgrade is being conducted by local employees of electricity infrastructure company Essential Energy, changing 585 existing street lights in Coonamble alone to an LED format.
Project Manager for Street Lighting at Essential Energy Josh Ingrey said the upgrade will reduce power usage by around 47 per cent.
“What we’re doing essentially is taking the pre-existing high wattage luminaire out of service and installing a brand new low wattage LED, which is where you see a significant reduction in power consumption,” Mr Ingrey said.
“Overall, the upgrade will lead to an annual reduction in power consumption by 180 megawatt hours, which is equivalent to removing about 75 cars from the road, which is also great for the environment.
“Furthermore, the ongoing cost of maintaining the LEDs is also much lower, which is great for both the council and their ratepayers.”
According to Mr Ingrey, the street lighting upgrade is part of Essential Energy’s state-wide initiative to replace around 160,000 lights across 85 councils.
He said the vast majority of these upgrades should be completed by the end of 2023.
“This project is a really high priority for us, the workers and all the local councils we’re working with to roll it out,” he said.
Local Essential Energy workers commenced the Coonamble upgrade in mid-January and are now around half-way through, working around their usual workload of general maintenance and fault, emergency and urgent risk work.
Mr Ingrey said he had been very impressed with the progress the local workers had made in such a short time.
“I think they’ve made fantastic progress – I’ve been in semi-regular contact with them and have been really impressed with their attitude and their strong motivation to complete the job,” he said.
Council Mayor Ahmad Karanouh said he was also impressed with the progress of the upgrade and said he was already noticing a much better spread of light on major roads.
“So far it’s been good, especially on the highway and Castlereagh Street – they’re much brighter and will be much cheaper for the council,” he said.
“In back streets, we’ve noticed that they don’t seem to be as brightly lit as on the highway, but that was to be expected.”
While the Mayor said the council hasn’t yet received any local feedback on the new street lights, one west Coonamble resident told the Coonamble Times they had seen a noticeable improvement.
“I’ve started noticing them on my local walking path on Pages Terrace, near the Gully,” they said.
“Normally, the lights along the road aren’t working and it’s pretty much pitch black on certain parts, while now, ‘let there be light’.
“It certainly feels a lot safer now – a lot of people use it at night as a track to come home from the pub and you should be able to walk around your town and not be worried about someone hiding in the darkness,” the resident said.
When asked about the durability of the new lights, Mr Ingrey said the diffuser – the clear part of the light – was a lot more durable than the previous models.
“If we do see vandalism occurring, we do have the option to install an even higher density diffuser, but that is subject to a discussion with council,” he said.
Works on the Coonamble street lights are expected to be completed in the next few weeks.
Mr Ingrey said he was unsure about the progress of works of the street lights in Gulargambone and Quambone, though he was confident workers would fit them in around other general maintenance in these areas.