Australia’s largest community lighting upgrade to keep roads safer and reduce energy usage

15 May 2023

Ausgrid to complete Australia's largest community lighting upgrade to keep roads safer and reduce energy use

Ausgrid has begun upgrading more than 240,000 luminaires into LEDs across its network in partnership with Southern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (SSROC) and 33 local councils.

Ausgrid is upgrading street lighting across its network with LEDs and smart controls to improve reliability and community safety on the roads, while significantly reducing energy usage and carbon emissions. The roll out commenced in Maitland and Lake Macquarie, with over 62,000 lights to be installed by 2026. 

Ausgrid, in conjunction with SSROC and councils, has already upgraded more than 180,000 streetlights across metropolitan Sydney, the Central Coast and the Hunter with LEDs. The latest phase of this program is focused on LED and smart cities capabilities for major roads, commencing in Maitland and Lake Macquarie.

The streetlighting upgrade is using latest smart cities technology that will help to detect faults, optimise maintenance, measure energy use and facilitate off-peak dimming as part of future capabilities. By updating community centred assets such as streetlighting and allowing installation of sensors for parking, traffic management and air quality, communities can experience safer, more liveable cities with smart city solutions.

When this latest phase is complete in 2026, the Ausgrid LED rollout is expected to exceed 240,000 lights. As a result, the total energy consumption of Ausgrid-managed streetlights will be reduced by 50 per cent, or the total annual energy consumption of almost 10,000 Australian households. These emission savings will be fundamental in assisting councils reach their net zero targets and will be key in helping accelerate efforts to decarbonise the economy.

Ausgrid Chief Customer Officer, Rob Amphlett Lewis, said: “The safety of our communities is critically important to our organisation. Ausgrid’s lighting upgrade program is making our roads and communities safer, while saving massive amounts of energy".

SSROC CEO, Helen Sloan, said the project will be a major shift in the lighting of main roads. “We’ll be moving to lights that will provide a noticeably higher-quality lighting on our main roads."

The councils taking part in the street lighting upgrade include; Bayside Council; Burwood Council; Canada Bay Council; Canterbury Bankstown Council; Central Coast Council; Cessnock City Council; City of Parramatta Council; City of Ryde Council; City of Sydney; Cumberland City Council; Georges River Council; Hills Shire Council; Hornsby Shire Council; Inner West Council; Ku-Ring-Gai Council; Lake Macquarie City Council; Lane Cove Municipal Council; Maitland City Council; Mosman Municipal Council; Municipality of Hunters Hill; Muswellbrook Shire Council; Newcastle City Council; North Sydney Council; Northern Beaches Council; Port Stephens Council; Randwick Council; Singleton Shire Council; Strathfield Council Audit; Sutherland Shire Council; Upper Hunter Shire Council; Waverley Council; Willoughby City Council and Woollahra Municipal Council.

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