COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

south dublin county council crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, June 11, 2012

MOTION NO.2

MOTION: Councillor W. Lavelle

That this council recommends that the proposed Sustainable Energy Action Plan should include a detailed multi-year plan for a phased approach (with clear & realistic targets) to incrementally increase the percentage of public lighting columns in the county using energy-saving technology.

REPORT:

There are approximately 29,500 public lighting fixtures of varying wattage in operation within South Dublin County. Each fixture lights during hours of darkness for a total of 4,300 hours per annum. South Dublin County Council is currently exploring options for increasing public lighting energy efficiency; with (to date) the strategic installation of dimming technology on suitable public lighting circuits powering 1200 installations (about 4% of public lights in South Dublin County Council) a reduction of approximately 30% in energy consumption has been realised at these sites. On an ongoing basis Infrastructural maintenance work and new public lighting installations incorporate dimming capabilities which will lead to further energy consumption reduction over time.

To balance the necessity for achieving energy efficiency in public lighting and achieving satisfactory and safe road design standards, South Dublin County Council collaborating with the three other Dublin local authorities, in conjunction with the City of Dublin Energy Management Agency, CODEMA, to address the issue of energy efficiency in public lighting and identify suitable solutions to bring about energy consumption reduction.

South Dublin County Council’s engagement in the LEAP project will result in the preparation of the South Dublin Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP). This is being prepared having regard to EU protocol known as ‘Covenant of Mayors’ and is supported by CODEMA (Dublin’s Energy Agency) and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).

The South Dublin SEAP will set out how the County can become more energy efficient across all sectors, including local authority operations and will cover the entire geographical area of SDCC. The LEAP project allows for SDCC to benefit from the technical experience and best practice of our European partners; this experience will be used to formulate a series of short, medium and long term actions to 2020 and beyond and will include energy efficiency in the public sector. As part of the SEAP process, energy efficient public lighting options will be explored in conjunction with a short, medium and long term approach to their implementation having regard to reaching EU targets on energy consumption and CO2 reduction.