Czech towns invest tens of millions in modernising outdated street lighting

Towns in the Olomouc Region have begun gradually modernising their street lighting, enabling local governments to significantly reduce operating costs while also improving the quality of lighting on public roads. Replacing old, inefficient sodium lamps—which pushed up costs for towns last autumn when electricity prices rose sharply—with modern LED light sources will cost towns tens of millions of korunas. Grants will cover a large share of the costs, according to a survey by the Czech News Agency (ČTK).

For example, in Olomouc, the technical services plan to replace half of the more than 13.000 street lamps with energy-efficient LED light sources by the end of 2027. Last year, 540 LED lights were installed on Tovární-Lipenská streets and Brněnská Street, and this year another 1134 light sources are due to be replaced, at a cost of around 14.5 million korunas. „The project is divided into five annual cycles, with a grant of ten million korunas available each year. The new street lighting system will save 69 percent of electricity,“ says a report by the Olomouc City Technical Services.