A £1m energy-saving upgrade to street lights operated by South Kesteven District Council is on target for completion by the end of August.
The council manages 3,893 street lights in the district. So far more than 3,550 have been upgraded to LED, more than 90% of the total.
Street lighting is the single largest area of electricity consumption for the council and currently accounts for just over 4% of SKDC’s total carbon emissions.
Latest figures show that the cost of energy for street lights alone has been reduced by 56% since the scheme began.
There are expected savings of 75% for every lamp upgraded, with a payback period of 3.7 years on the investment.
The Council Leader, Cllr Ashley Baxter, said: “We are determined to complete this upgrade as quickly as possible to maximise the substantial energy savings made by using LED bulbs.
“This will significantly help us to achieve our target of becoming a carbon neutral organisation by 2030 and save council taxpayers millions of pounds over the next two decades.
“We have no plans to switch our street lights off overnight but the new ones do allow us to make further savings by dimming them between midnight and 6am.
“The LED streetlighting programme is biggest single project that we, as a council, are undertaking to reduce our own carbon emissions. I am delighted it is on course to be completed this year, despite problems due to issues such as global material shortages.”
The installation contract was awarded to E.ON Energy Solutions Limited and covers work to upgrade around 3,100 streetlights to LED units with an in-built dimming programme.
SKDC’s street lights also include others relating to the council’s housing stock that predominantly provide lighting for footways.
Street lighting provided for highways is mostly managed by Lincolnshire County Council and is turned off from midnight to 6am.