Kathmandu, 4 Sep 2023. 11,500 state-of-the-art smart street lights (smart street lights) have been installed under the ‘City Bright Program’.
The Nepal Electricity Authority has installed 67 state-of-the-art high-mast lights in a partnership with local authorities to illuminate all four directions at the main square of the city. The Authority has contributed approximately 42 million Nepalese Rupees for the construction of road lighting structures.
The Authority, under the ‘City Lights Campaign,’ has been coordinating and collaborating with municipalities to install modern, decorated lights (smart lights) in key roads, historical and cultural heritage sites, and tourist locations listed in the World Heritage list.
The Authority believes that this will lead to the enhancement of the city’s beauty, an increase in electricity demand, and an efficient utilization of electricity during the night. The Authority has planned and designed special kinds of lighting for significant religious, historical, and archaeological sites, as well as tourist areas.
Managing Director Kul man Ghising of the Authority has announced the commencement of a program to install smart road lighting in partnership with local authorities after the cessation of load shedding from the country, aiming to electrify places that were previously without electricity and enhance urban aesthetics.
Electricity should not be limited to just households; roads also need to be illuminated for urban aesthetics and safety. That’s why we have initiated a program in partnership with local authorities, and there is a growing demand for road lighting from local authorities across the country,” he stated. “We are currently working on short-term, medium-term, and long-term plans to ensure an adequate, reliable, high-quality, and safe supply of electricity.
The system of the Authority has the capability to automatically control smart lights through feeder panels. For this purpose, feeder panels have been installed. Transformers have been installed only for street lighting.
The smart grid is directly connected to the Authority’s server. When there is a power outage due to software issues, the system automatically turns on the lights, and when there is electricity, it is managed automatically. Electricity bills are also generated through the software. Monitoring of the on/off status of lights can also be done through the software. Municipalities related to electricity tax handle the taxation aspect.
Road lighting has been installed in Lalitpur and Pokhara Metropolitan Cities, Dhangadhi Sub-Metropolitan City, as well as in the municipalities of Kankai, Belka, Bhimeshwar, Bhimdatta, and Fidim.
The installation of smart street lights in Bharatpur Metropolitan Municipality and Mahalakshmi, Budhanilkanth, Siddharthnagar and Manthali Municipalities is in the final stage. An agreement has been signed with 3 metropolitan municipalities, 3 sub-metropolitan municipalities and 13 municipalities including Kathmandu for the installation of smart street lights on cost sharing basis. An agreement has been reached for the installation of smart street lights on the Balkumari-Balkhu road section of the extended ring road in partnership with the Road Department, Lalitpur Metropolitan Municipality and the authority.
75% of the cost of installing street lights will be shared by the Metropolitan Municipality and 25% by the Authority. In the sub-metropolitan city, 70 percent of the respective sub-metropolitan city and 30 percent of the authority will be the investment share.
In the municipality, 65 percent of the respective municipality’s share and 35 percent of the authority’s investment share will remain. Likewise, 60 percent of the respective rural municipalities and 40 percent of the investment authority will be borne by the rural municipality.
The authority will supervise the cost estimation, selection of technology, purchase and construction. The maintenance of the installed street lights will be done by the construction company for five years. If the municipalities make a bid with 100 percent investment, the authority will provide technical support for the bidding process and supervision.
Inauguration of smart street lights in Pokhara
The main tourist city of Nepal, Pokhara, has begun to sparkle with high-mast and smart road lights (smart street lights). Under the ‘Ujyalo Pokhara Campaign,’ high-mast lights have been installed at the major intersections and road lighting has been inaugurated in Pokhara.
On Sunday, Pokhara Metropolitan City Mayor Dhanraj Acharya and the Managing Director of the Authority, Kulman Ghising, jointly inaugurated the installation of high-mast lights and road lighting on Pokhara’s new road.
Kaski’s Chief District Officer, Vasudev Ghimire, expressed the importance of road lighting in further enhancing the beauty of Pokhara and controlling criminal activities. He emphasized the need for special attention to be given to the maintenance of road lighting.
Ghisingh, the Managing director of the authority, said that for the improvement of the beauty of Pokhara, the work of undergrounding electric wires is underway. He requested the Metropolitan Corporation to provide necessary support and facilitation to remove the obstacles in some places in the construction of structures for the improvement of electricity supply.
In partnership with Pokhara Metropolitan Municipality and the authority, 23 state-of-the-art high-mast lights have been installed on 16-meter high poles in 23 main intersections of Pokhara.
207 street lights have been installed on 60 kilometers of main roads within the metropolis. Among them are energy efficient 90 watt and 120 watt smart lights. The cost of the street light installation project is Rs. 140.65 million.
It consumes less electricity but provides increased illumination. Street lighting ensures safe travel during the night and enhances the beauty of the roads and the city. It contributes to the nighttime aesthetics of Pokhara. Pokhara Metropolitan Municipality has arranged to pay the street light cost.
The smart light can be controlled automatically from the feeder panel in the authority’s system. 32 feeder panels have been installed for this. A separate transformer has been installed only for street lights. The smart lamp is directly connected to the authority’s server.
There is an automatic system of turning on the light when it is dark and turning it off when it is bright. Billing of electricity tariff is done through the software. The fee will be paid by the Metropolitan Municipality. Monitoring whether the lights are on or off can also be done through the software. The maintenance of the installed lights will be done by the construction company for five years. The design life of street lights is 50,000 hours.
