Mayo County Council signs €930,000 energy saving contract

MAYO County Council has today signed a €930,000 contract in respect of the North West Bypasses Energy Saving Lighting Plan.

The contract is a project funded by Transport Infrastructure Ireland to replace and retrofit the existing public lighting on National Road nypasses in the North West region of the country which will result in significant energy and maintenance savings.

It is the first such contract in this region and will act as a pilot and provide significant knowledge and experience for future energy saving public lighting projects.

Under a Section 85 Agreement with the Local Authorities included in the project, Mayo County Council were appointed Lead Authority and Client/Employer for the delivery of this significant project in January 2017.

The National Energy Efficiency Action Plan sets out the government’s commitment to meet a 20% reduction in energy consumption by 2020.

In order to meet this target and lead by example, the government has challenged the Public Sector to achieve a more ambitious target of a 33% reduction over the same period.

The largest energy user in the local authority sector is now public lighting, and accordingly, investment in the retrofit and replacement of public road lighting assets is essential for supporting the government in addressing the National Energy Efficiency Plan targets.

Mayo County Council have overseen the appointment of Arup as Consultants for the project and Electric Skyline Ltd. as the successful contractor.

Peter Hynes, chief executive of Mayo County Council, outlined: “As lead authority on the project I welcome the progress.

"This retrofit and replacement project will bring significant energy and maintenance savings on its completion which will assist in aiming to reach the ambitious targets set out for public sector in energy consumption.”

The project consists of the upgrading of 1,345 lights split across six Local Authority areas involving LED replacement with dimming and re-assessment of lighting levels.

The bypasses involved are as follows:

N4 Edgeworthstown Bypass

N4 Longford Bypass

N5 Longford Bypass

N4 Dromod Rooskey Bypass

N4 Curlews Bypass

N5 Charlestown Bypass

N5 Ballaghaderreen Bypass

N5 Swinford Bypass

N17 Knock to Claremorris Bypass

N4 Collooney Bypass/Sligo Inner Relief Road

N15 Bundoran to Ballyshannon

N15 Donegal Bypass

Paul Dolan, head of eoads at Mayo County Council, confirmed: “Following a tender process, Mayo County Council have now appointed Electric Skyline Ltd. from Claremorris as the contractor to undertake this project.

“Works will be commencing in a number of weeks with site works to be completed by the end of September 2018.

"An essential part of the project is the verification of the energy savings generated by the LED upgrade and this process will continue until September 2019.

"Energy savings of up to 60% are to be achieved with this project together with considerable maintenance savings”

The total project cost is €930,000 which is fully funded by Transport Infrastructure Ireland.

Pictured at the signing were, at front, Geraldine Walsh, TII, Sean Corcoran, Electric Skyline, Peter Hynes, CE, Mayo County Council, Councillor Richard Finn, Cathaoirleach, Tom Gilligan, Director of Services. At back are Cormac Mac Nally, Electric Skyline, Gerard Keogh, ARUP, Consultant Engineers, Declan Larkin, Electric Skyline, Mary Gordon, Mayo County Council, and Paul Dolan, Head of Roads, Mayo County Council