Smart Lighting Project

In 2013 the six Great South Coast councils – Warrnambool, Moyne, Corangamite, Colac-Otway, Glenelg and Southern Grampians - developed a plan to replace the mercury vapour globes in thousands of streetlights across south-west Victoria with more energy-efficient LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes).  

The project, called the Great South Coast Street Smart Lighting Program, was the first bulk changeover of street lights to LEDs in Australia and attracted Australian Government funding of $1.4 million from the Community Energy Efficiency Program.

Warrnambool City Council contributed a further $700,000 to the changeover of 2000 streetlights in the municipality.  

Across the Great South Coast about 7000 globes were replaced.

The changeover has substantially reduced greenhouse gas emissions and over the lifetime of the LEDs will save the Councils millions of dollars in power bills.

The LED lighting system chosen by Warrnambool City Council was the most energy-efficient lighting option to have been approved by Powercor, the Distribution Network Service Provider that owns the lighting infrastructure.

The LEDs, which use about 75 per cent less energy than the mercury vapour globes, meet all relevant Australian Standards for safety and light levels.

Trial results throughout Victoria had demonstrated that they were superior to the existing lights.

The changeover started in 2013 and was completed in late 2015.

The LEDs are made in Australia by Sylvania. The luminaire (the main body of the light) will last about 20 years.

Almost all materials in the old lights will be recycled. Council waste disposal requirements included the recycling of around 98 per cent of the old lights.

The glass can be recycled into products such as glass wool insulation for homes, the mercury distilled and reused in the dental industry and the aluminium body and other fixed components (for example, steel screws, copper wires) can end up as ingots used in industry.