A £6m LED street lighting pilot scheme has been announced for parts of Northern Ireland.

Hailed as a ‘major step forward’ in energy saving, around 20,000 LED street lights will be installed in the Banbridge and Craigavon areas over the next eight months.

Regional Development Minister Danny Kennedy made the announcement, saying: “In these financially challenging times, it is important that every effort is made to make savings and reduce costs without impacting on the public.

“Over the last number of years, small pockets of LED street lighting have been introduced across Northern Ireland.”

LED lighting can provide considerable savings in energy and maintenance costs as the lights last longer and consume less energy than conventional lanterns.

Mr Kennedy added: “Whilst relatively large sums of capital investment are required initially, immediate returns on running costs are achieved with a pay back on the investment expected after eight years.

“Whilst my resource budget has been reduced, I have decided that we must not lose this opportunity to start introducing LED lights on a wider scale to achieve the future cost savings they will bring.

“The LED street light pilot project across Banbridge and Craigavon areas aims to replace around 20,000 existing lights.

“This is a very significant investment and, as my budget permits, I will continue to introduce similar schemes across Northern Ireland.”

http://www.u.tv/News/2015/08/24/New-LED-street-lighting-for-NI-43583