Improved public lighting in Bucharest

Luxten Lighting Company has been the public operator of the Bucharest public lighting system since 1997. The Company planned to modernise the public lighting system in the Dorobanti area of Bucharest by replacing the existing lighting poles and bulbs with LED efficient ones.

The company addressed the Municipal Financing Facility for Energy Efficiency (MFFEE) and its participating bank for financing of this project. The MFFEE  team supported the company with analysis of the proposed technology, the potential for energy savings and the financial-technical parameters of the project.

The €4.9 million investment reduced the public lighting energy consumption by 107 MWh per year (38%). In addition, the operation and maintenance costs were reduced by 43 per cent due to the longer lifetime of the new bulbs.

Among the main advantages of the measures are:

• Longer life cycle of the LED bulbs: LED bulbs last for 50,000 operation hours as compared to 18,000 hours for the existing units, leading to much lower operation and maintenance costs;
• Lower energy consumption of LED: between 49W-100W compared to 81W-425W for the existing light bulbs, also resulting in lower energy costs; and
• Improved quality of light and colour rendering mode compared to conventional sources, leading to public safety improvements.

Following the success of this project, Luxten Lighting Company approached MFFEE for financing of street lighting replacement in another part of Bucharest using the same technology.

The EBRD, through MFFEE, supports sustainable financing and implementation of energy efficiency projects in the municipal sector. Together, the residential, private and public sectors can make a change in energy consumption patterns and contribute to environmental protection.