Taiwan Assesses Installation of NT$22B. Worth of LED Streetlights

Taipei, Sept. 3, 2010 (CENS)--The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) is assessing a plan to spend NT$22 billion (US$687 million) replacing the 800,000 working mercury streetlights around the island with LED ones.

The MOEA will complete the assessment next year, when required product specification and functionality, and details of government projects will come out as well. According to senior MOEA officials, the replacement plan is estimated to cut down around 50% of electrical consumption from current level by mercury streetlights as soon as it is completed.

Statistics released by MOEA's Bureau of Energy show that mercury streetlight is the most energy demanding of Taiwan's three traditional types of streetlight and accounts for over half of the total 1.57 million streetlights around the island.

The bureau's officials pointed out that LED streetlight project is part of the government's effort to cut CO2 gas emission and energy consumption. They noted that the government deliberately increased budgets last year for various public-work projects including green-energy projects in a bid to quickly revitalize the island's economy during the global economic recession.

They added that the LED streetlight project would become Taiwan's second prominent LED replacement plan, next to a project phase the 700,000 incandescent traffic lights out of the island before October 2011 with LED lights at a cost of NT$750 million (US$23 million).

It is understood that many local LED manufacturers are pursuing the government certification of “CNS” mark, which represents the basic qualification for bidding for government contracts, in preparation for the LED streetlight budget.