Energy Minister, Pat Rabbitte, has officially switched on Crossmolina's 'Smart Street Lighting', in what is a first-of-its-kind venture in Ireland.

With the backing of Crossmolina Community Development and Mayo County Council, Crossmolina was chosen as a pilot to test a new public lighting initiative that aims to result in long term savings to the town and council, as well as encouraging the delivery of other energy efficiency projects across the country.

Minister Rabbitte said: "This is the first town in Mayo, and moreover, the first town in Ireland to receive Smart Street Lighting. There are currently around 420,000 public lights in the Republic of Ireland, the bulk of which are operated under Local Authorities. The energy consumption of public lighting is estimated to represent between 15% and 35% of the total energy consumption in Local Authorities. Therefore, the potential for energy saving in street lighting is very significant."

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Crossmolina already has a mix of low and high wattage street lighting, resulting in its identification by Mayo County Council as a suitable test project. The pilot initiative aims to test the Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) of new 'dimming and trimming' energy saving technology, through which light output can be controlled for each individual light or group of lights. Through the delivery of this new technology it is expected that Mayo County Council should continue to achieve cost savings over the lifetime of the project.

(CD)