Going underground to light up the streets

The City of Nedlands has accepted Western Power’s proposal to connect underground power to about 600 properties in the West Hollywood area, following a unanimous council decision.

It follows a consultation period where 67.9 per cent of respondents supported the Nedlands (West Hollywood) Underground Power Project’s detailed design estimate.

Western Power have advised the City it had the option to own and operate the streetlight network within the project area and could also tender for the streetlight network separately. All new streetlight networks associated with underground power will be LED-based and there will be options for smart control.

Existing high-pressure sodium, metal halide and mercury vapour streetlights are not energy efficient and typically operate 12 hours a day at full intensity, which means their energy cost is high – and they only have a lifespan of about five years. Whereas, LED-based streetlights have a lifespan of up to 20 years, enabling lower energy and operational costs, which means they are a more economic, robust and environmentally appropriate method to light the City’s streets.

The City would provide a project coordinator to liaise between Western Power and the community to ensure the underground power project proceeded as smoothly as possible. It will also explore the potential for the electronic-metered supply of the streetlight network, either permanently or as a trial, with Energy Minister Ben Wyatt, Western Power and Synergy.

The Nedlands (West Hollywood) Underground Power Project is expected to begin in mid-2018, but the actual timing of the project’s stages was dependent on council and Western Power decisions and the availability of materials and contractors.