Mexican Governor Proposes Expansive LED Street Light Project
The proposed project would replace 25,507 streetlights in the municipality of Othón P. Blanco with GE Evolve LED cobrahead street lights.
The governor of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo has proposed a project to replace 25,507 streetlights in the municipality of Othón P. Blanco with GE Evolve LED cobrahead street lights.
The project supports the Mexican government’s 2010-2012 climate change program to mitigate environmental impacts and is expected to reduce the municipality’s energy usage by 29 million watts per year. The resulting greenhouse gas emission reduction would be the equivalent of taking the approximately 40,000 cars that operate throughout Othón Blanco off the roads in a 10-year period.
Once completed, the project will be the largest installation of LED streetlights in Latin America.
“All eyes are on Mexico as we host this important meeting on climate change, and we are pleased to support our country’s commitment to the world with actions that will have a long-term impact on the environment,” Gov. Felix González Canto remarked. “As many countries begin to move toward achieving their environmental goals, Mexico is establishing its leadership with concrete examples, such as transitioning to LED lighting in our cities.”
According to the 2009 annual report of the World Bank's Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery, Mexico is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change, with 71 percent of its GDP at risk of suffering the adverse consequences of this environmental phenomenon. “Governments have a responsibility to seek efficient solutions to meet our energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals,” said the city’s president, Andrés F. Ruiz Morcillo. “It is our job at all levels of government to support the country’s growth and the well-being of our citizens. LEDs are the future of lighting solutions, and Chetumal and its municipality are setting the standards for other cities in Latin America and the world to follow,” he added.
The 25,507 GE LED lighting systems will generate estimated energy savings of 51 percent for the town, when compared to the technology currently in place. These savings are a result of the long life and efficiency of LED technology and the GE’s Evolve system, which was voted best-in-class in the 2010 Next Generation Luminaires design competition. Among the advantages of LED lighting are their long life and the possibility of directing light to specific areas, reducing light pollution and glare. LEDs offer brighter, more-uniform light that allows for better visibility as well as color rendition. For governments, this means fewer labor hours for replacing lamps, less traffic disruption, and a greater sense of security among citizens.
“GE’s goal is to provide innovative leadership products that help our customers meet their environmental and financial goals, and we believe that LED technology is the future of lighting solutions. We are extremely proud that Mexico has chosen GE for the largest LED public roadway lighting installation in Latin America and trusted us to be a part of one of the initiatives the country is implementing to meet its domestic environmental needs,” commented Michael J. Petras, president and CEO of GE Lighting.
Avances Lumínicos Plus S.A. de C.V. – GE’s authorized national distributor and exclusive concessionary in the state of Quintana Roo – is responsible for the financing, installation, and maintenance of the LED systems that will be installed in Othón Blanco through a 15-year concession agreement with the municipality. “We are very pleased with the opportunity to work with a trusted brand such as GE to bring our customers in Mexico the best in technology innovation,” saidSalomon Marcovich, the president and CEO of Avances Luminicos Plus.
Quintana Roo is located on the eastern side of the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico, meaning its eastern beaches – known as the Riviera Maya – are on the Caribbean Sea. The state is divided into nine municipalities, seven of which were created in 1974 when the former Federal Territory of Quintana Roo attained statehood. The eighth municipality, Solidaridad, was created in 1993, and the ninth and most recent, Tulum, in 2008.
Othón Blanco is Quintana Roo’s largest municipality, covering the entire southern portion of the state and representing 36.9 percent of its territory. It is Mexico’s fifth-largest municipality, and its capital city is Chetumal.