Waterford City and County Council is among 21 local authorities to take part in the National Public Lighting Energy Efficiency Project (PLEEP), which is replacing older streetlights with LED technology.

In Waterford, 4,000 public lights had already been retrofitted in earlier phases, with almost 10,000 more completed under the current programme. Across the Southern region, led by Cork County Council with partner authorities in Waterford, Clare, Kerry and Limerick, the total number of lights upgraded stands at 47,000.

The project's primary aim was to maximise energy savings and improve efficiency by swapping out traditional SON/SOX fittings, which have been out of manufacture since 2023 following an EU Directive. Installing LED luminaires has delivered energy reductions of more than 50% and supports Waterford City and County Council in meeting its 2030 targets of a 51% cut in CO2 and a 50% reduction in energy use.

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Retrofitting works across Waterford city and county started in August 2024 and were finished in February 2026.

Gabriel Hynes, Acting Director of Services for Roads, Water and Environment with Waterford City and County Council, said the efficiency programme has also reduced the number of outages, with approximately 98.7% of public lighting currently operating as intended.

Mr. Hynes commented: "This has an added benefit in cost savings being made through less maintenance being required on the led lighting installations.

"Funding of the upgrades was partially covered by the Department of Climate, Energy and Environment's Climate Action Fund to a sum of €1m with the remainder being funded by Waterford City and County Council. As a result, in 2025 energy cost savings of €358,179 were achieved by the Council due to the PLEEP process."

A secondary goal of PLEEP was to survey and record the condition of public lighting assets so local authorities in the region can strategically plan and invest in upgrading the underground infrastructure.

Since 1950, public lights were mounted on existing ESB overhead networks, and between 1970 and 1985 underground concentric cabling was installed; that cabling has now reached end of life and must be fully replaced if it fails.

Almost 20% of Waterford’s public lighting inventory still relies on older concentric cable infrastructure, which will require significant upgrades and an estimated €20–€30 million investment to resolve legacy issues. Waterford City and County Council has submitted a funding request to the Department of Climate, Energy and Environment.

The Council will continue to maintain all public lighting, aiming to keep non-functional units below 2% of the total stock at any given time.