SE Lithuanian Road Administration Became a Member of Energy Efficiency Club
State Enterprise Lithuanian Road Administration (later – the Road Administration) has been awarded a certificate for energy savings by the company ESO (Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius AB) and has become a member of the Energy Efficiency Club. During 2020, the Road Administration managed to save 1,215 MWh when carrying out the lighting upgrading project on the state significance roads.
During the first stage of the above-mentioned project, lighting was upgraded on the roads with the highest traffic volumes. More energy will be saved upon completion of the ongoing second stage of the project in 2021.
Several years ago it was estimated that on average one household in Lithuania consumes ca 2.3 MWh of electric power; therefore, the energy savings generated by the Road Administration could be supplied to more than 500 households.
In total, until the beginning of the first project stage there were 10,800 lights, out of which only 11.5 per cent LED type lights. It was important to replace sodium vapor lamps by more economical ones. During the first stage 3,864 old lights with sodium vapor lamps were replaced by new LED type lights. During the second stage to be completed in autumn 2021, 4,526 lights will be replaced.
The Director of the Road Administration Remigijus Lipkevičius maintains that by its activities the Road Administration aims to contribute to the implementation of the European Green Deal. It has been estimated that upon completion of the whole lighting modernization project on state significance roads, up to 2,700 MWh of electrical power used to light state significance roads or 378,000 EUR will be saved per year. Investments into light replacement should pay off in five years after their installation.
In the future, it is planned to start the third stage of lighting upgrading. In 2021–2022 the state road lighting management system will be implemented, which will enable to control lighting remotely, to detect and repair failures faster.
The modernization of state road lighting will be cost-effective and will enable to control the intensity of lighting, to obtain real-time information, to remove the damages immediately, which will contribute to safer traffic.
The Road Administration together with the company Elektros Skirstymo Operatorius has signed an Agreement on Energy Savings.