42 per cent of street lights switched to energy friendly bulbs

AMMAN — Progress on a project to retrofit the capital’s street lights with energy-saving bulbs reached 42 per cent, a municipal official said on Thursday.

Started in 2015 by the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM), the project aims to reduce electricity usage in cooperation with the Jordan Electric Power Company, according to the official.

“The ultimate goal of the project is to reduce the capital’s energy bill. Savings on electricity used for lighting the capital’s streets is expected to drop by 60 per cent once the endeavour is complete,” the official noted.

GAM has already converted 50,000 street lamps along its major streets to the energy-saving light-emitting diode (LED), according to a statement issued by GAM press office on Thursday, which noted that the project seeks to have 119,000 lighting units replaced with LED light bulbs.

“GAM spends approximately JD12 million annually on street lighting,” the municipal official told The Jordan Times.

 LED lighting units have been installed in Zahran area, Tlaa Al Ali, Wadoi Al Sir, Bader Al Jadidah and Khreibet Al Souque, according to GAM, which indicated that work is now under way in Al Qweismeh, with Al Naser and Jubeiha areas following.

 The project is part of the municipality’s shift to sustainable development and seeks to turn Amman into an environment-friendly city, GAM said previously.

Up front, LEDs cost three to four times more than traditional high-pressure streetlamps, but they last three to four times longer and produce two to three times more light per watt, delivering anywhere from 30-70 per cent in annual electricity savings, according to Forbes website, which also indicated that 40 per cent of the average city’s electric bill goes to street lighting, and close to half of that is wasted.