With 100% LED public lights: No need for energy cuts in this Romanian town

Târnăveni is one of the first cities in the EU with all LEDs and since the switch it has seen a drop of 68% in energy consumption

Today, the mayor of Târnăveni in Romania, Sorin Megheşan, announced that the municipality will not need to make any reductions in consumption to save energy during the winter. This is because they have already made all the reductions they need. He claimed that his is the first city in Europe to have moved to 100% LED street lights.

Furthermore, the mayor said that thanks to a new project for a photovoltaic system, municipal buildings should reach complete energy independence, powered by renewable energy in 2023.

As AGERPRESS reports, Mayor Megheşan explained that the move reduced municipal energy consumption by 68%. This comes on top of the fact that the municipality has doubled the number of street lights operating in the city.

The ‘power’ of small towns

Six years ago, the town of Târnăveni with a population of around 20,000 people, launched a project to replace all street lights with LEDs. Additionally, authorities also wanted to install more lights to ensure safety on the city streets at night.

They ended up installing twice as many lights, yet the overall bills dropped by around 68%, according to the mayor. Additionally, the city was able to replace all of its lights with LEDs, making it one of, if not even the first, EU cities to do so.

Now, with the ongoing energy crisis, Târnăveni stands out as a case of the potential for energy savings through more efficient technology. Additionally, because it is a smaller city, it also has the potential to make big leaps in energy efficiency and decarbonisation.

Another big leap in the works

Authorities in Târnăveni announced a new photovoltaic project for the roof of the local farmer’s market. The project will be financed by the Energy Programme in Romania 2017-2020, with Norwegian financial backing.

It will cost around 360,000 euros, with more than 300,000 coming from the fund. Additionally, it will produce 183 kilowatts and will cover an area of 1,300 square metres. Mayor Megheşan estimated that that would be enough to power the whole municipal building stock, while the project is set to finish in 2023.