ESSEX County Council claims to have to have the world's largest wireless street lighting central management system following the 125,000th connection to its lighting network.
The £6m wireless system, which is supplied by Essex-based Telensa, provides instant fault detection, improved maintenance, lower carbon emissions and significant energy savings.
Using Telensa's public lighting active network system, the council expects to reduce the energy cost of street lighting by around £1.3 million per annum and to cut carbon emissions by more than 8,000 tons each year through its Part Night Lighting scheme.
The technology allows Essex County Council to control the switching of every single street light from a central location, and facilitates daily reports on lights that are not working, allowing engineers to correct issues promptly.
County councillor Rodney Bass, cabinet member for highways and transportation, said: "We are delighted to work with an Essex company to deliver a state-of-the-art control and monitoring system.
"Telensa's system has fully met our expectations and has been deployed across the county's 12 districts in two years and within budget.
"The new system will ensure that we manage the 125,000 street lights more efficiently and effectively to improve service levels while reducing energy costs and helping meet our carbon reduction targets. It also gives us the ability to manage lighting defects more effectively."
Will Gibson, managing director of Telensa, said: "As an Essex-based company we are delighted that our system has been deployed in our home county and I am proud that Essex can now boast that it has the World's largest street light central management system."
