Do you know that Paris is the first city in Europe to use electric streetlights? This was in 1878 and only a few years later 4 000 lamps lit the entire city center. The first electric street lamp in Bulgaria was lit on the 1st of July 1879 on the occasion of the entry into power of Prince Alexander of Battenberg. As with all technological discoveries, many types of lamps have been developed through the years.
With a giant leap in time, we are back to 2022. For the last 12 months, the night views in the city of Burgas are brighter and more secure, while the electricity bills for the municipality have been reduced significantly. These are among the most visible results from the project aiming to change 2 623 street lamps through the city. In addition, since people are in the focus of the project, 24 pedestrian crossings are equipped with dedicated lights charged with solar panels.
The project comes as a result of the good partnership between the Municipality of Burgas and the Norwegian Association of the Consumer and Producers of Electricty – Norsk Energi. The latter with more than a century of experience in the field, ready to share know how on efficient energy use.
A total of 22 districts throughout the city got their new lights. These include main roads that connect the city with highways, but also living quarters and prominent locations. The new lighting brings many positive effects for the citizens of Burgas – less traffic accidents, better visibility on the bicycle lanes and a sense of security for the people walking home at night.
As an effect from the project, supported by the EEA Grants the annual energy consumption for street lighting will be reduced by more than 1 million kilowatt hour yearly, which will lead to savings for the municipality of more than 200 000 leva,” shares Mr. Georgi Sakaliev, employee at the Municipality and part of the project team. The money will be used to support other local needs and will motivate the Municipality to carry on with more initiatives for energy efficient lights. The initiative is also in line with the green energy transformation, as Burgas will reduce CO2 emissions by 1328 tons annually.
The project has much more to offer than just energy efficient lamps – new streetlight poles, new electrical panels and additional equipment for better control of the circuit. “Should somewhere in our network a light bulb die, we are getting a signal with the location of the problem area in through a web based application and we are sending a team to check the issue and find a solution. Thus our reaction is swift and accurate,” adds Mr. Sakaliev
The Municipality of Burgas is one of the 22 supported municipalities that implement such activities under the Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency and Energy Security Programme, supported by the EEA Grants. A total of 18 million Leva are provided for, while additional funding is to be used for energy efficiency of public buildings and use of geothermal energy.