LEDs light up GHMC finances

Civic body saves Rs 558 crore adopting the energy conservation model

Hyderabad: Going the LED (Light Emitting Diode) way has helped the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) boost the status of its coffers apart from contributing to the environment by reducing carbon emissions.

The civic body adopting the energy conservation model has already saved Rs 558 crore and reduced an estimated 5.16 lakh tons of carbon emissions. The savings include the money spent on electricity bills, material procurement, maintenance, and staff.

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So far, 4.93 lakh conventional street lights in the city have been replaced with LED lights and LED adoption is being further expanded. While the number of LED streetlights in 2020 was 4.53 lakh, the number increased to 4.92 lakh in 2021 and presently there are 5.21 lakh LEDs in the GHMC limits.

According to the GHMC, the savings by replacing conventional street lights with LED have been considerable. If Rs 42.42 crore was the saving in the financial year 2017-18, it rose to Rs 85.23 crore in 2018-19, Rs 84.48 crore in 2019-20, and Rs 86.72 crore in 2020-21. As per the available data, the money saved on the electricity bills between April 2021 and October 2021 was Rs 49.93 crore.

This year (till December 1) over Rs 80 crore have been saved, said GHMC officials. The GHMC officials pointed out that apart from a drastic decrease in the electricity bill, the move to go for LED street lighting significantly helped in cutting down on the money spent on staff and maintenance.

The eco-friendly power utilities set up in association with the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) has also reduced carbon emission.

As per the GHMC data, the energy conservation measure has helped in reducing carbon emissions by 1.29 lakh tonnes annually. After conventional streetlights were replaced with LEDs, over 5.01 lakh tonnes of carbon emission have been reduced.

Before the installation of LEDs, the monthly electricity consumption for streetlights in GHMC limits was 20.07 MU, and the monthly electricity bill used to be around Rs 14.94 crore.

Presently, the electricity consumption has dropped to 9.96 MU and the monthly billing has come down to Rs 8.50 crore.

Solar panels save on power bills

The clean energy practices of the GHMC by setting up solar energy panels on its 34 buildings saved over Rs 1.32 crore on power bills.

The corporation has taken the expertise of Telangana State Renewable Energy Development Corporation (TSREDCO) for executing the project.

“The plan is to make the GHMC buildings self-sustainable by generating the required amount of clean power through the solar panels without spending money on electricity bills,” said a GHMC official.