Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 30, 2020 (SKNIS): The St. Kitts Electricity Company Ltd (SKELEC) began installing new Light-Emitting Diode (LED) energy-efficient streetlights on Monday, April 20 2020, under the Street and Floodlight Retrofit Project to reduce street and floodlighting energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in St. Kitts Nevis.
“The first phase of the installation includes the changeover of over 5000 lamps to LED. The project began with a changeover of lamps on the FT Williams Highway at the Camps roundabout continuing east on the island main road,” said Jomo Williams, General Manager of SKELEC, at the April 30 edition of the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) Daily COVID-19 Briefing.
Mr. Williams noted that preparations are also in place for turtle-friendly lights to be installed at Keys Beach. These lights are well-suited to beachfront areas and boardwalks with high foot traffic and provides lighting for walkways without disrupting the daily movement of sea turtles.
“Twenty-six (26) environmentally sensitive amber lights or turtle-friendly lights will be installed on the island main road in Keys Village and throughout the Keys community to protect turtles on Keys Beach,” he said.
In addition to reducing street and floodlighting energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in St. Kitts Nevis, the project is also expected to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and the Federation’s contribution to global warming.
Information from http://www.skelec.kn/ states that the second phase of installation will include the replacement of over 400 floodlights at sporting complexes across the island. The new LED lamps will be at the same location as the existing lamps and will use the same poles and wiring.
Financing for the project is provided through a loan from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) to the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis totaling approximately EC$15,638,000 to facilitate the retrofit of about 10,760 lamps on both St. Kitts and Nevis. The CDB estimated that the new LED lamps can result in approximately EC$1.12 million in savings per year on electricity billing to the Federal Government, while the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) is estimated to achieve savings on electricity bills of approximately EC$1.08 million per year.
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